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Special Premiere Collector’s Edition! 




THIS MAGAZINE 
MAY TURN YOUR 
LOVE OF PCs INTO 
AN OBSESSION 



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71486 03353*0 



PURE POWER 



Interview: Bill Gates 
Gets Serious About Games 



Rendering on the Fly: 
The Future of Flight Sims 






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When You 
Need a PC 
That Means 
Business, 
Micron 
Has You 
Covered. 




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MAGAZINE 


EDITORS’ 




FfllTl RS’ 


CHOICE 




CHO CE 



JUNE 25. 1996 JUNE 25. 1996 

MILLENNIA P166 MILLENNIA PI 33 



In June 1 996, the Micron™ Millennia PI 66 and 
Millennia PI 33 won two of three 
PC Magazine Editors' Choice awards. 



P erformance, technology and dazzling graphics. Three key rea- 
sons we say our Millennia™ and Millennia Pro line of PCs 
means business and gets the job done in style. 

The Millennia line takes Microns award-winning flagship 
product to the next step with up to 200MHz of computing power. 
And the Millennia Pro adds the power of the Intel Pentium® Pro 





X 

NOW YOU GET TWICE THE 
MEMORY IN SELECTED SYSTEMS 
(SEE CONFIGURATIONS) 



processor. 

And now \ both the Millennia Pins and Millennia Pro come with a 
3D video card with 4MB of EDO memory — standard. And they’re 
backed by the industry-leading Micron Power* 1 warranty*. 






TM 



Warranty & .Support 



'J 5-year limited warranty on microprocessor and main memory 
& 3-year limited parts-only system warranty 
^ !■/ 2- or 3-year optional on-site service agreement for all desktop systems 
'S 30 days of free Micron-supplied software support 
'J 30-day money-back policy 
J 24-hour technical support 

All sales are subject to Micron's standard limited warranties and terms and conditions of sale. 
Copies of our limited warranties may be obtained on our web site or b 










Millennia™ PI 66 




Millennia P200 Plus 




Millennia Pro200 




Millennia Pro200 Plus 



•Intel 166MHz Pentium 3 processor 

• 512KB pipeline burst cache, flash BIOS 

• 8X EIDE CD-ROM drive, 3.5" floppy drive 
•16-bit stereo sound & speakers 

•pa 64-bit 3D video, MPEG, 4MB EDO 
•Tool-free minitower or desktop 

• Microsoft 5 Mouse, 104-key keyboard 

• Microsoft Windows 8 95 & MS 5 Plus! CD 
^/* 5-year/3-year Micron Power* warranty* 

•16MB EDO RAM* 1.2GB EIDE hard drive 

• 15" Micron 15FGx, .28dp (13.7" display) 
•Microsoft Works 95 CD 



s l,999 



Branns!eos«$6B/month 



• 32MB EDO RAM • 2.1GB [IDE hard drive 

• 15" Micron 15FGx, .28dp (137* display) 

• Miaosofl Office Pro 95 & Bookshelf" 95 CDs 



s 2,399 



Business lease S82/monlh 



• 64MB EDO RAM • 3.1GB EIDE hard drive 

• 17' Micron 17FGx, ,24dp 1158' display) 

• Miaosofl Office Pro 95 & Bookshelf 95 CDs 



s 3,149 



Business lease SI 07/month 



• Intel 200MHz Pentium processor 

• 512KB pipeline burst cache, flash BIOS 

• PCI 32-bit Ultra SCSI Past-20 controller 

• 8X SCSI CD-ROM drive, 3.5' floppy drive 
•16-b'rt stereo sound & speakers 

•PCI 64-bit 3D video, MPEG, 4MB EDO 
•Tool-free minitower or desktop 

• Microsoft Mouse, 104-key keyboard 

• Microsoft Window 95 & MS flus! CD 
ij* 5-year/3-year Micron Power warranty* 

• 16MB EDO RAM • 1GB Fast SCSI-2 hord drive 

• 15' Micron 15FGx,.28dp (13.7" display) 

• Microsoft Works 95 CD 



s 2,499 



Business lease S85/month 



• 32MB EDO RAM • 26B Fast SGI-2 hard drive 

• IS* Micron ISFGx, .28dp [13.7’ display) 

• Miaosofl Office Pro 95 & Bookshelf 95 CDs 



s 3,199 



Business lease SI 09/modi 



• 64MB EDO RAM • 4GB Fast SCSI-2 hard drrve 

• 17' Micron 17FGx, .26dp (15.8* display) 

• Microsoft Office Pro 95 & Bookshelf 95 CDs 



$ 4 249 

■ / « ■ 1 Business leoseSMS/month 

• With 166MHz Pentium processor. subtract SI 00 

Product Information Number 106 



•With 133MHz Pentium processor. 
• With 200MHz Pentium processor. 



...subtract $200 
add $100 



• Intel 200MHz Pentium 3 Pro processor 

• 256KB internal cache, flash BIOS 

•8X EIDE CD-ROM drive, 3.5* floppy drive 
•16-hit stereo sound & speakers 
•PCI 64-bit 3D video, MPEG, 4MB EDO 
•Tool-free minitower or desktop 

• Microsoft 3 Mouse, 104-key keyboard 

• Microsoft Windows NF Workstation CD or 
Windows®95&MS 5 Plus! CD 

jj* 5-year/3-year Micron Power* warranty’ 

•16MB EDO RAM* 1.2GB EIDE hord drive 

• 15* Micron 15FGx, .28dp (13.7* display) 

• Microsoft Works 95 CD 



s 2,399 



Business lease S82/monlh 



•32MB EDO RAM • 2.1GB EIDE hard drive 

• 17* Micron 17FGx, .26dp (15.8" display) 

• Microsoft Office Pro 95 & Bookshelf 8 95 CDs 



s 3,049 



Business least $IM/mooth 




• Intel 200MHz Pentium Pro processor 

• 256KB internal cache, flash BIOS 
•Pa 32-hit Ultra SCI Fast-20 controller 
•8X SCI CD-ROM drive, 3.5* floppy drive 

• 16-bit stereo sound & speakers 

•pa 64-bit 3D video, MPEG, 4MB EDO 

• Tod-free mini-tower or desktop 

• Microsoft Mouse, 104-key keyboard 

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation CD or 
Windows 95 & MS Plus! CD 

• Microsoft Office Pro 95 & Bookshelf 95 CDs 
5-year/3-year Micron Power warranty* 

• 32MB EDO RAM • 2GB Fast SCSI-2 hard drive 
•15" Micron 15FGx,.28dp (13.7* display) 

$3 400 

■ • " Business leos« $1 1 9/monrfi 

• 64MB EDO RAM • 46B Fast SCSI-2 hard drive 

• 17* Mkron 17FGx, ,2idp 115.8' display) 



s 4,549 



Business lease SI S5/noidh 



• 1 28MB EDO RAM • 9CB Fast SCI-2 hord drive 
•21' Micron 21FGx,.26dp(20.0' display) 



s 7,649 



Business lease S240/fnonrh 



Intaiutiorul Scks t 

208 - 893-8970 1 



\ International Fa 

1 208 - 893-7393 



M 



Tollfrce from Canada 

800 - 708-1758 



1*1 



• 900 E. Karcher Road, Nampa, ID 83687 
• Mon-Fri 6am-10pm Sat 7am-5pm (MT) 
• International Sales Hours: Mon-Fri 6am-7pm (MT) 
Tollfrce from Puerto Rico • 208-893-3434 • Fax 208-893-3424 

800 - 708-1756 • Purchase Order Fax 208-893-8992 

•GSA Contract IGS35F4317D 

Tollfrce from Mexico • Technical Support Available 24 Hours A Day-7 Days A Week 

95 - 800 - 708-1755 • Technical Support E-mail: techsupportmeic© micron.com 



MICRON 

ELECTRONICS, INC. 



01996 Micron Bectrones, Inc. Al rights reserve! Micron Electronic* is not responsible for orr«s>ons or emors n typography Of photography A1 purchases are subject to avalabiity. Prices and 
specifications may be changed without notice: prices do not include stopping and handkng 30-day money-back po ley does not indude return freight and original stopping handing charges, appbes 
only to Micron brand products and begns from date ot shipment. AH sales are subject to Micron Electronics’ cuTent terms and conditions of sale. Lease prices based on 36-month lease. Intel. 
Intel Inside and Pentium are registered trademarks of the Intel Corporation. Mcrosoft, Windows and the Windows logo are registered trademarks and Windows NT is a trademark ot Microsoft 
Corporation. All other service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective companies. BOOT-MIUMIIPRO'9609 



800 - 776-4523 

http://www.mei.micron.com 














reviews 



bootWorthy: Speakers 

This month , we tilt an ear toward the ultimate 
speakers for your desktop sonata. 

Cambridge SoundWorks MicroWorks 
Advent Powered Partners AV570 
Bose Acoustimass 
Yamaha YST-M15 
Altec Lansing ACS500 



news 



18 nuggets 

Warm up with newsy Nuggets in byte-sized pieces. 



22 bootWire 

News that matters. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates tells why the PC 
will be the ultimate game platform in a bootWire interview. 
Plus: Intel* s MMX multimedia chipset and impending Merced Py 
CPU; also DVD: Turn of the century technology? 



Previews and Reviews 

We get our hands on 40 new products, including: 
Sony’s premiere PC; Fujitsu’s premiere laptop; 
Microsoft’s premiere sports sim, NBA Full Court 
Press Basketball ; Windows NT 4.0; Ricoh’s RDC-i 
digital camera; Nokia’s Multigraph 447Xavc 
multimedia monitor with everything built-in; sizzling 
Pentium laptops from Gateway and Hitachi; U.S. 
Robotics’ handy Pilot PDA; WarCraft*s celestial 
cousin, StarCraft ; Strife ; Duke Nukem 3D; Dark 
Earth ; Unreal ; Drowned God; 3D Studio Max; Total 



Hitachi M 120-T 



departments 



SimCopter 



8 Comm Port 

Readers connect via e-mail, fax, and snail mail, 



12 bootDisc 

Check out the inaugural bootDisc with 650MB of 
hot demos of games including Monty Python* s 
Holy Grail and Shattered Steel , and network 
games £uch as Duke Nukem 3D , Warbirds , and 
Strife; you’ll find HTML and Image map editors, 
tutorials, smart agents, offline browsers, and 
VRML flybys. $ 



voices 



5 Editor’s Words 

Fearless bootMan Brad Dosland leads us toward 
the promised land. 



29 Game Theory 

Columnist T. Liam McDonald makes it clear: 
He hates Myst\ 



Pure Lust 

These aren’t just any new products, they’ll 
have you lusting and checking the limit on your 
gold card. 



31 On the Line 

Columnist Shel Kimen asks: 

ISDN or cable modems, what’s a girl to do? 



60 12-Step Program 

If you have the obsession, you need the boot 12- 
Step Program. This month: a step-by-step 
personal Web page that you can be proud of... 
in 12 easy pieces. 



32 On the Road 

Columnist Angela LoSasso takes her case against 
desktop systems On the Road. 

127 Glitch 

boot closes out the premiere issue with columnist 
)on Phillips’ humorous take on industry gossip. 



118 bootRadar 

bootRadar detects and makes known all the 
impending products. 





42 20oMHz Monsters in 3D 

A new breed of 200MHz monsters are coming to shelves, and we have 
exclusive coverage of the new systems from Compaq, NEC, and IBM 
offering 3D graphics acceleration. Is it the next big thing or the next 
big gimmick? 



48 Rendering on the Fly 

Tomorrow’s flight simulators will be rendering on the fly and flying on the 
wire. We twist the arms of the best flight sim developers to sneak a peek at 
the next generation of software and discover breakthroughs from massive 
online assaults to satellite imagery landscapes. 



54 The $sK Dream Machine 

When your old system’s get up and go has got up and went, and an off-the- 
shelf- system just won’t feed the need, boot tells you how to bring together 
the components that will blaze their way into your heart and imagination. 
Build your $sK dream machine... now! 



200MHz Monsters in 3D p.42 



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12-Step Program p.6o 



36 Jean-Louis Gassee 

Flamboyant Frenchman jean-Louis 
Gassee explains, in the Lip interview, 
his new Box and how it came to Be. 






Introducing Agent 95'", the performance companion for Windows** 95 that automatically alerts you to bottlenecks, 
memory hogs and situations that cost you time and aggravation. Agent 95 includes four “agents” that work in 
real time to help you maximize your PC’s performance and RAM compression. Prevent slowdowns and ^ 
take the guesswork out of your system’s performance. Look for Agent 95 at computer stores everywhere. 



For information call 1.800.57 1.7558 or visit www.connectix.com 



Connectix 



Product Information Number 89 





august/ September 1996 



EDITORIAL 

Editor in Chief: Brad Dosland 
Managing Editor: Angela LoSasso 
News Editor: Doug Lombardi 
Reviews Editor: Michael Brown 
Copy Editor: Ingrid Bush 
Contributing Writers: Charies Brannon, 

Lee Buchanan, Shel Kimen, T. Liam McDonald, 

Jon Phillips 

Multimedia Editor: Kurt Cagle 
Disc Editor: Lisa Rein 

ART 

Art Director: Laura Morris 
Associate Art Director: Inka Petersen 
Contributing Artist: Cal Clapper 
Contributing Photographers: Aaron Lauer, Mark Madeo 

PRODUCTION 

Production Director: Richard Lesovoy 
Production Coordinator: Ken Brandow 

ADVERTISING 

Regional Advertising Managers: 

Chris Coelho, Angela Mueters, Juanita Nessinger 
Regional Advertising Manager (East): 

Christina Sorrentino 
Account Executive: 

Andy Hopewell 

Marketplace Account Manager: 

Jessica Rotnicki 
Advertising Coordinator: 

Jennifer Barbeau 

CONTACT 

boot 

150 North Hill Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005 
Subscriptions phone: 415.468.4869 
Subscriptions e-mail: subscribe@bootnet.com 
Advertising: 415.468.4684, ext. 110 
Editorial: 415.468.4684; www.bootnet.com 
FAX: 415.468.4686 

CIRCULATION 

Circulation Director: Gail Egbert 
Circulation Manager: Donna Badgett 
Single Copy Sales Director: Maryanne Napoli 
Newsstand Manager: Bruce Eldridge 
Qrculation Analyst: Doug Haynie 

IMAGINE PUBLISHING, INC 
Publisher: Matt Firme 

Chief Information Officer: John Montgomery 
Vice President/CFO: Tom Valentino 
President: Chris Anderson 
INTERNATIONAL LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE 
Robert J. Abramson and Associates, Inc. 

720 Post Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583 
VOLUME oi, ISSUE oi 

boot (ISSN #1088-5439) is published monthly by Imagine 
Publishing, Inc., 150 North Hill Drive, Suite 40, Brisbane, CA 
94005, USA. Periodical class postage paid in Brisbane, CA 
and at additional mailing offices. Newsstand distribution is 
handled by Curtis Circulation Company. Basic subscription 
rates: one year (12 issues) U.S. $39.90, Canada $53.90. 
Canadian price includes postage and GST (GST #128220688). 
Postmaster: Send changes of address to boot, P.O.Box 
51479, Boulder, CO 80322-1479. 

Bulk Rate, U.S. Postage Paid, 

Waseca. MN, Permit No. 348 

Standard Mail enclosed in the following editions: A3, B, 
Bl, B2. CPC Int’l Pub Mail # 0781029. Outside the U.S. and 
Canada, price is $53.95, U.S. pre-paid funds only. For cus- 
tomer service, write boot, P.O. Box 51479, Boulder, CO 
80322-1479, boot, 150 North Hill Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005. 
Imagine Publishing also publishes PC Gamer, Next Generation, 
Mac Addict, Game Players and The Net. Entire contents copy- 
right 1996, Imagine Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. 
Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited. Imagine 
Publishing, Inc. is not affiliated with the companies or prod- 
ucts covered in boot. 

PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




P Let me be the first to 
welcome you to the 
future, boot magazine 
is here and nothing 
:: will ever be the same, 
•o. Then again, some 

» ■*' chaos theorists would 

argue nothing ever 
has been the same. 

What we’re deal- 
ing with in these 
pages is a serious 

obsession. An innocuous box that occupies 
a few square feet on or under the desk but 
manages to take up the majority of our 
thoughts and imagination. This could be 
a good thing or a bad thing. I think it’s a 
good thing, but you’ve gotta ask yourselves 
a few questions. 

Have you got the love? Deep down, does 
your blood burn for your PC? Imagine 
cracking the case on some bleeding-edge 
new machine and gazing in on state-of-the 
art boards that make the seemingly impossi- 
ble possible. Getting warm? 

This experience is nothing new. The 
hard-core loyalist has been at the center of 
the whole evolution of the personal comput- 
er. From those first persistent kit crunchers 
that braved the darkness to watch the lights 
flash on an Altair, to the computer clubs 
that spawned Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and so 
many other Promethean influences. The 
desire to tap the seemingly primordial 
power of the PC has fueled the growth of 
this now-dominant industry. 

The power user, the early adopter, the 
geek. Whatever we are called, we are the 
glue that holds the industry together, the 
axle that powers all the divergent spokes 
that make the growth of the architecture 
move forward. And our time has come. 

Now is a great time to be a power user, 
because the technologies at the core of the 
PC are reaching previously unfathomable 
heights, and the overall platform is stepping 



up to the challenge set forth by the next gen- 
eration platform machines. I’ve seen the 
future of software running on 200MHz 
Pentium-based machines with memory to 
burn and 3D cards performing rendering 
tricks based on dead mathematicians’ theo- 
ries. And let me tell you. I’m blown away. 

And like a good prom date, they’re not 
only beautiful, they’re smart. 

- Game design has advanced so far beyond 
the simple twitch games that inhabited the 
corner pizza parlor. Today’s sims have put 
the intelligence back into A/I. If you have 
the time, savvy, and inclination you can 
fight the Battle of the Bulge, accurate down 
to the smallest details. And if you’re good, 
you might win. 

All this is not to say that everything pro- 
duced for the PC is this amazing. No. The 
majority of software and hardware pumped 
out for mass consumption continues to 
pander to the lowest common denominator. 
The term “home system’’ has become syn- 
onymous with “second-rate,” and too much 
software is designed with packaging placed 
before gameplay in priorities. The hard-core 
home PC owner has the love. That PC 
owner has relentlessly pushed the envelope, 
and today's mind-blowing systems and soft- 
ware exist explicitly for that individual. 

That's where we come in. We know what 
you want. We dig your pioneer spirit 
because we share that spirit. Every single 
month, we bust our asses to seek out the 
very best and thrash the rest. And we do 
it for the love. Anytime we hear even a 
rumor about some new technology or title, 
we want to be the first to see it, hear it, 
touch it, feel it. When the FedEx man rolls 
his dolly-full of boxes into the bootLab, we 
break cadence and tear into the latest batch 
of toys and tools. We're passionate and we 
know you are too. 

So come along. We’re gonna have 

a blast! 

✓O \l / — Brad Dosland 



PHOTOGRAPHY: 

MARK MADEO: COVER: LIP 

AARON LAUER: RENDERING; 200MHZ MONSTERS 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 






Distributed by: 



|noMi' eniutainml'ntI 



© 1996 Fox Interactive lnc.."Die Hard Trilogy" © 1996 Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Inc. All Rights Reserved. 
"Twentieth Century Fox," "Fox" and their associated logos are the property of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. 







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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



Death becomes us 

My reward for renewing my subscription 
to CD-ROM Today is apparently the death 
of the magazine. 1 subscribed (note the past 
tense) because every month you gave me a 
large number of CD-ROM reviews, some- 
thing the other magazines I subscribe to 
don't. The included CD allowed me to cali- 
brate my views and tastes against those of 
your reviewers. It also gave my great-nephew 
something to do when his father brought 
him over to our house. 

But the July issue informs me that 
you’re turning my magazine into a boot 
camp PC magazine. 

I can't imagine why you’d do this. You 
have one chance with me. If I don’t 
like it, then you’ll get the boot, not me. I’ll 
just get a refund. 

Jeff Smith 
via Internet 

Thanks for writing. We're glad you enjoyed 
CD-ROM Today and its definitive reviews, 
and we're proud that we earned the repu- 
tation as " the CD-ROM authority." We're 
also proud that we've always offered much 
more than reviews— like the Disc, tutorials, 
insightful features, and news and views 
from respected columnists. 

That's why we think you'll find boot 
more than appealing. We have a new and 
improved bundled CD-ROM: the bootDisc. 
We give you plenty of insight into new 
products (this month more than 40 soft- 
ware titles and hardware products are pre- 
viewed and reviewed). 

You'll find much of what CDRT had 
to offer in the pages of boot. We've just 
taken the best and made it better. 

Captive audience 

I am presendy incarcerated at the Keogh 
Dwyer Correctional Facility in Newton, N.J. 
Myself and other members of a select group 
of “trustee" inmates, in conjunction with 
classes sponsored by the Sussex County 
Community College, are hard at work study- 
ing to become computer literate. We all 
hope that the skills we learn will help us 
become better, more productive members 
of society through employment in some 
related field. 

I recendy had the privilege of reading 
your magazine and derived hours of plea- 
sure. Your concept of combining text materi- 
al with a CD-ROM in monthly installments 
is truly unique and borders on the revolu- 
tionary. I think your magazine is stellar!! 

Keep up the good work. 

Please send me subscription informa- 
tion. (If you would keep in mind: I only earn 
78 cents per day. If you have discounted sub- 
scriptions, it would be greatiy appreciated.) 



If you could also send us some old CD-ROM 
Today issues, they would be of great use 
to myself and the other students in our 
further studies. 

Thank you, 
Brian Schultz 

Thanks for writing Brian. You should have 
the back issues by the time you read this; 
unless, of course, boot and CDRT somehow 
get swiped before they reach your cell, er, 
classroom. 

Gamers only? 

I think boot has great promise. Your articles 
are well-written, but they try to please all 
the people (any PC user) all the time rather 
than some of the people (game players) all 
the time. 

If you concentrate on a single market — 
game players — then the magazine can 
include all sorts of articles (about equipment, 
software, trends, etc.). 

I have a couple of suggestions: Your 
reviews should focus solely on how equip- 
ment can perform in relation to “gaming." 
There's nothing wrong with mentioning 
RAM and cache, but please relate it to games. 
There are already too many magazines with 
general computer reviews. 

Steve Schwartzman 
via Internet 

We don't try to please just any PC user. 

We love the obsessive types— guys that 
prefer to let their forehead hit their joystick 
with a thump at 2 a.m. rather than a soft 
down pillow. 

Seriously: It's true that games are push- 
ing the envelope of technology. Your sug- 
gestion to relate new system and compo- 
nent performance to real-world gaming is a 
good one, and we actually figured that one 
out on our own. 

No, we won't give you general computer 
reviews, boot editors like what you like: the 
stuff that gets in your blood, the games 
that make your adrenaline pump, and the 
PCs so intimidatingly powerful they make 
you drool. 

Thanks for the suggestions. We hope 
you enjoy this premiere issue. And remem- 
ber, we're only gonna get better. 

Power Rangers 

One of the challenges we face in the educa- 
tion software business is teaching young peo- 
ple subjects, such as math and English, while 
entertaining them at the same time. Power- 
active Math and Words do just this (reviewed 
CD-ROM Today, July 1996). Power Rangers 
Zeo is the number one television show for 
boys and girls ages 2 to 11 in the United 
States. What better way to get children inter- 
ested in these subjects than through team- 
work with their favorite super heroes? 



Peter Lefevre’s statement that “the only 
children who might improve their academic 
skills by using these discs are kids who have 
attention span problems," shows a misun- 
derstanding of the basics in teaching young 
people. The best way to improve skills in 
these key academic areas is through atten- 
tion, focus, and repetition. He continues, 
“Otherwise math and English deserve to be 
treated like the scholarly pursuits that they 
are, even in the younger grades.” 

I believe that it does no good to have the 
most effective tools for training math and 
English available if kids won't spend time 
with the product. 

J. David Hoch 
vice president 
Interactive Development 

No doubt Power Rangers Zeo is a popular 
show, but that alone does not justify using 
that violent theme to expose young chil- 
dren to basic education principles. The 
hyper violence of the TV show, and these 
CD-ROMs, is abhorred by many, including 
professional educators. While the movie 
Pulp Fiction might also succeed in getting 
children's attention, it would make a bad 
vehicle to teach social studies to elemen- 
tary school kids . The educational challenge 
is not so great that relevance and context 
need be ignored. We prefer educational 
titles that focus on learning more than 
chop-sockey hijinks. 

Pacified... not! 

Thank you for your review of our Pacified 
CD (CD-ROM Today, July 1996). 

I agree that even our Macintosh version 
is “amateurish” and you make many solid 
points in your review. In the past we have 
solicited support from many record labels 
and been turned down, so we were forced to 
record in our basement. I'm a much better 
musician that I am a producer, but I’d like to 
be heard! 

While there is some motion in our disc, I 
must say that QuickTime movies suck. 

Video machines still kick severe butt on all 
but the most expensive computers — face it! 
My Super 8 movie camera can produce bet- 
ter looking stuff than my PowerMac 6100. 

As far as our disc’s simple interface goes, 
all I can say is I hate computer games. This 
is an art display. 

Evan Symons 
Step and a Half Records 
Vancouver, BC 

Reviewer Adam Douglas responds: I under- 
stand that your disc was recorded on a low 
budget. However, we must grade 
your disc with the same criteria “ 

we would use for any other 
disc. I commend you for tak- 
ing a chance and releasing I 
Pacified all by yourself. . • 



e-mail www.bootnet.com 

fax: 415.468.4686 

paper: comm port, 150 North Hill Dr., 

Brisbane, CA 94005 




boot AUG/SEPT 96 





There are other ways 

your multimedia, but may we 
suggest our new Graphics Blast 




c (? r. AT I v 



[•UMili'J 



Multimedia can be a frustrating thing. Even on 
today's hottest systems, video playback can end up 
looking like a postage stamp with fewer colors than 
you get from a box of crayons. Or, when you 
zoom it to full screen, it looks like a slide show 
instead of a smoothly ainning movie. Before you 
resort to extremes, you might want to try our new 
Graphics Blaster 1 " multimedia accelerator from 
Creative Labs. 

Graphics Blaster features high-tech video 
acceleration functions like asymptotic scaling, 
horizontal and vertical filtering and color space 
conversion built right into the hardware. The end result 
is video that glides onto the screen in dazzling true color without 
dropping frames. And the powerful 64-bit graphics engine delivers 
Windows® performance that will blow you away. 

Best of all, Graphics Blaster won't blow away your bank account. Our top-of-the- 
line Graphics Blaster MA302 with 2MB of state-of-the-art Rambus memory — the same 
high performance memory used on Silicon Graphics workstations — costs less than com- 
parable boards using yesterday's tired VRAM memory. 

So when you're ready to boost your graphics and video, 

performance to the stratosphere, pick up a Graphics Blasteiv 1 ^ at your nearest Creative Labs 
dealer. Its got the multimedia muscle your Hv system J? deserves. What else would you 
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For nrore information, cal! our Faxback Service at 405-372-5227 or Pinduct Information a 800-998-5227 x 1 3b 1696 Creative ‘lechnology Ltd Ah nghts reserved Graphics Blastc' a trademad of Creative TechncJogy Ltd The Creative logo is a registered 
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Product Information Number 96 








World War 



>'J 'Bsliii CaocUc\s 






PRagT&wer 



Tired rf 






Just Softworks, Inc. 
Protect your computer system 



Sams Publishing 

Create your own Doom, Doom II, 
Heretic and Hexen worlds with 
this programming kit that enables 
you to easily modify the gaming 
environment. 

[PC: WIN 3.1, WIN 95. or 
WIN NT 3.5; 486; 8mb) 



This comprehensive yet easy-to-use 
reference contains 130,000 entries 
covering 125 fields of science— every- 
thing from acoustics to zoology. 

(PC; WIN 3.1; 386sx; 4mb] 

(MAC: Sys 7.0; 68030; 4mb] 
Hybrid: works on PC and MAC systems 

Vendor Price: $79.95 



Master the programming 
language that enables you to 
add animations, sound and video 
to your Web page with this 
all-in-one tool kit and tutorial. 
[PC: WIN 95; 486; 8mb] 



. ■ ■ viruses 



polymorphic viruses, Windows 
macro viruses and more with 
this powerful detection and 
removal program. 

[PC: WIN 3.1, WIN 95, or 
OS/2; 386; 2mb] 

Vendor Price: $69.95 



Vendor Price: S69.95 



Vendor Price: $39.95 



Borders Price: $49.95 



Borders Price: $54.95 



Borders Price: $34.95 



Borders Price: $49.95 



FlagTower 

Ybu are there — storming the 
beach at Normandy, watching 
Hitler rise to power, listening to 
historic radio broadcasts — in this 
interactive experience document- 
ing the last world war. 

[PC: WIN 3.1; 486dx; 8mb] 
Vendor Price: $69.95 

Borders Price: $27.95 



Gold Standard Multimedia 

This educational simulator 
enables you to experience the 
dissection of a human body at 
your computer. References to 
printed atlases are included. 

[PC: WIN 3.1; 486; 4mb] 

[MAC: Sys 7.0; 68040; 8mb] 
Hybrid: works on PC and MAC systems 
Vendor Price: $99.95 

Borders Price: $84.95 



Lifestyle Software 

Betty Crocker's cooking classic is 
served up on a CD containing 
over 1,000 kitchen- tested recipes 
and enhanced by dozens of 
how-to video clips. 

(PC: WIN 3.1; 486; 8mb] 
Vendor Price: $39.95 

Borders Price: $29.95 

[MAC: Sys 7.0; 68040; 8mb] 
Vendor Price: $49.95 

Borders Price: $34.95 



CyberMedia 

Tap into the world's largest 
knowledge base of solutions to 
over 10,000 Windows 95 and 
Windows 3. 1 problems. Also 
available in a deluxe PC edition. 
[PC: WIN 3.1, WIN 3.11 or 
WIN 96; 386; 4mb] 
Vendor Price: $69.95 

Borders Price: $49.95 



Human 



► -orfflS 



es 
Windows 
Problems... 
Automatically! 



V 



First Aid 95 









J I C U IT 1 V V 6 SI j it’s the stuff 

that dreams are made of. 



Prepare yourself for the terror of your worst fears come to life, 
as Soultrap takes you on a hauntingly surreal journey into the mind of 
Malcolm West, a man possessed by fear. Free-fall into deranged 3D nightmares, 
as the ground shifts and twists beneath your feet. Ascend to the top of towering 
skyscrapers and stare down into the abyss that was once your sanity. Wander 
through the heart of warped environments, as the walls seem to shrink 
around you. With each new level your addiction will grow, absorbing 



your mind until the urge to play consumes you completely; 




trapping you forever in the spiralling vortex of fears, that 

is this terrifying Soultrap. 

• Face a stunning range of deadly opponents as you battle your way 
through detailed Real-Time 3D environments 
• Go inside the game with the first person perspective or step 
outside the action with the unique external camera 
• Stereo sound and dazzling effects bring all the reality 



altering, non-stop action to life! 




Face your greatest fears in all of their 3D rendered terror! 



FOR MORE INFO ABOUT MICROFORUM 
OR TO ORDER DIRECT, CALL: 1-800-685-3863 
Tel :( 4 1 6 ) 65 6- 9 5 9 4 Fax:( 4 1 6 ) 656 - 0 5 4 8 

INTERNET : http://www.Riicroforunt.com 

Email: moil@mifroforum.com 



Product Information Number 105 



You con writs to us ot 1 Woodborough Avenue Toronto. Ontario. CANADA M6M 5AI Comments, inquiries and suggestions ore otways wekome! ©1596 MICROFORUM INC. AIL RIGHTS RESERVED. ’SOULTRAP’ CREATED AND PRODUCED BY MICROFORUM INC ALL TRADEMARKS AND REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS 




A COLLECTION OF FULLT-OPER ATIONAL AND DEMO- VERSION GAMES 



This month's spotlight: networked/online multiplayer 3D worlds 



Shattered Steel 

— ~*7 -' • — The year is 2132 and you’re a mercenary with a Planet 

* A. j[ < Runner, which can navigate most any terrain and 
| I packs the fire power of a light armored division. Your 

m P patrol is near the edge of known space and is plagued by fre- 
* r quent pirate raids. This demo contains the first five levels of 

JL the full game and puts you at the controls of the mighty mech. 



Quake 

You get the phone call at 4 
n^u » yy' in the morning. “An enemy, 
** code-named Quake, is using 

his own slipgates to insert death squads 
inside our bases to kill, steal, and kidnap.” 
Quake, the long-awaited game from the 
people who created the original Doom, has 
two basic goals. First: Stay alive. Second: 
Get out of the place you’re in. This demo 
contains the full first episode and all 
the lush graphics and gameplay that 
make the title destined to be a classic. 



Duke Nukem 3D 

“Come get some...” calls out our hero, Duke 
Nukem, as he sets out to take New Los 
Angeles’ seedy underbelly back from alien 
marauders who have blown into town. At 
your disposal are shotguns, pipe bombs, 
shrink rays, grenade launchers, and more. 
Find jetpacks, Aqua-lungs, night-vision gog- 
gles, and other toys to help you beat down 
the baddies. This demo contains the devas- 
tating full first level. 



WarBirds ^ 

Get online and get aerial with WarBirds, 
the flight sim that allows you to dog- 
fight on the Internet. Install WarBirds 
on your computer and progress from a fledgling 
pilot to an experienced combat veteran. Best of 
all... With this software, you can fly WarBirds free 
of charge. Just start an account on the ICI Games 
host. Cancel your account anytime within the first 
five hours, and you will not be billed. 



Strife 

Strife is a unique 3D game that takes you into a world combining the fast- 
paced action of a shoot-’em-up with a riveting role-playing storyline. This 
demo gives you a taste of the full version, which features even more enemies, 
bigger badder weapons, and the rest of the gigantic Strife world to explore. 



Demo and trial versons of cutting-edge technology 



Adobe Acrobat 
READER 3.D BETA 
Adobe has created a versatile PDF in Acrobat, 
and this beta of the version 3.0 reader will 
allow you to take advantage of all the latest 
features added to the format. 

AnchdrPage 

Welcome to the world of automatic indexing. 

AnchorPage is an automatic indexer and 
abstractor, a program that analyzes your HTML 
documents, and finds and compiles significant 
phrases and concepts. These phrases and con- 
cepts are displayed in an abstract page, a 
concept page, and a phrase page, which are 
hyperlinked to each other and to your original 
documents. This version of AnchorPage is a 
limited demonstration copy. You may process 
up to 50K of source files. 

PdlyFdrm 

PolyForm easily creates 3D objects and converts 20 different 3D file formats. With PolyForm's 
auto-tracing facilities, you can convert your BMP logos and art into 3D outlines. Then use 
PolyForm's Logo Wizard to extrude and bevel your logo. View your object in a fully interactive 
viewer where you can move, rotate, and scale any object in any one of five rendering modes. 
And with the addition of advanced polygon optimization algorithms, visual 3D hierarchy dialogs 
and full conversion of EPS files and fonts to 3D, PolyForm is the powerful tool for anyone inter- 
ested in creating 3D objects. 



Hijaak Morph 

With this free application, from the people 
who brought you the graphics powerhouse 
Hijaak, you can create your own morphing 
movies. Simply select a starting image and a 
target image, assign reference points, and let 
Hijaak Morph generate digital magic. 

Calamus 

Calamus was designed to fulfill the need for a 
true 32-bit high-end desktop publishing 
application for the Windows 95/NT market. 
Calamus offers a new concept in design and 
function, providing greater creative and pro- 
duction control than other publishing sys- 
tems. The open architecture of Calamus 
enables you to add and remove features as 
required, so new capabilities can be seam- 
lessly incorporated as they are developed. 



features 



Video interview highlights: Shoot a 
few questions at Jean-Louis Gassee, 
father of the revolutionary 
new BeBox. 






All the Internet you can eat. 



f 



1 




$19-95 flat rate." Unlimited usage. 

Pig out. 




The coolest, easiest Internet access on Earth. 




Plus, eveiy account includes a free 2 meg Web site. 

Call now for your free EarthLink Network TotalAccess 'software 
with Netscape Navigator Version 2.0. 



1-800-395-8425 



Internet access in over 220 cities in the U.S. and Canada. Software tor MACINTOSH. WINDOWS, 
WINDOWS 95, featuring Netscape Navigator 2.0. EarthLink Network is one of the largest Web 
space providers in the U.S. and also provides ISDN, Frame Relay, T1 and other Internet services. 
• '/here is a one-time set-up fee of $25. (X). Prices for Canada are different. 



EanhLink Network, lne. 3100 New York Drive. Pasadena. California 91 10" Fax: (818) 296-2i"0 
Info via email: info@canhlink.net. live human via entail: sales@eanhlink.net. Visit our Weh site at http:/Avww.canhlink.net 






Mark £f‘ he Beast 



Duckman Cats Out 



1 1 ill and Knowlton’s HomeAgain 
microchip, a rice-sized transponder, 

can be injected into die scruff of die 
neck of dogs and cats to provide 
Rgk permanent identification. Once in- 

jl jectcd, a handheld scanner can 

read the chip and identify a miss- 
ing pet once it has been recov- 
l ered by an AKC office. 

Since its introduction one 
year ago, the chip has assist- 
? ed in the recovery of 620 stray animals in the 
United States. We’re waiting for a remote tracker 
upgrade to enable on-the-fly searches for missing ani- 
mals from family station wagons. 



The outspoken and politically incorrect fv 

Duckman is currendy hard at work on his / Tltt 

upcoming Duckman: The Legend of the Fall 

CD-ROM, due for release in January. The | 

feathered superstar from USA 

Network’s late night serie^oMreA it 

same name will star in the first-perA 1 \ 

son, animated adventure. On die disc, 

you must solve puzzles as Duckman'-aiid jglggf wK} 

outwit his ultimate nemesis, King Chicken. Jt m 

The title will feature 10,000 hand-rendered 

frames of animation and the voice of Seinfeld's Jason Alexander. 



[ Online Diocese 



The Internet has had a belated 
discovery in France, where until 
recently it was seen as a nerdy 
setup that only Americans could 
get really excited about. But 
French enthusiasm for the Net 
increased dramatically when 
events took a turn for the meta- 
physical and theological: A virtu- 
al diocese was created and a 
media hubbub has ensued. 

It seems the pope was peeved 
with jacques Gaillot, the Roman 
Catholic bishop of a diocese in 
Normandy. Bishop Guillot hadn’t 
sinned, he hadn’t professed a 
heresy, but he had committed a 
faux pas: He appeared on televi- 
sion a few too many times. The 
pope wasn’t furious enough to 
excommunicate or demote 
Gaillot, nor could he make him 
a bishop-at-large— for a bishop 
must have a place in which to 
be a bishop. 



So the church appointed him 
the Bishop of Partenia (location: 
more or less in the Algerian 
desert; population: zero), once a 
cutting-edge diocese in the 
fourth century, which by the 
sixth century was just a sand- 
covered notional site. Being the 
bishop of a diocese sans living 
Catholics prompted Gaillot to 
think in terms of the metaphysi- 
cal, and voilal The first virtual 
diocese appeared online, allow- 
ing the bishop to be everywhere 
at once— something like God. 
The site has become the rave of 
Paris cyber-ceperies (yes, it’s 
what you think— a place where 
you can rent a computer and 
eat a crepe). 

And although you can’t receive 
Communion or make your 
Confession (yet), you can go 
online to free yourself of high- 
caloric guilt (www.partenia.fr). 



What, 

no Doug 
Llewelyn? 



pf The Court of Last Resort is the latest 
online offering from Sandbox Enter- 
fy mvam tainment Network. The show is an 
interactive, virtual courtroom offering 
^ “Internet citizens the chance to seek 
justice without any overpaid lawyers, 
sequestered jurors, and ex- 
hausting legal processes.” Chad 
Little, president of the Sandbox 
Entertainment Network says, “The Court of 
Last Resort is the World Wide Web’s answer 
to The People’s Court ” Although the settle- 
ments are not legally binding, partici- 
pants are compensated with prizes. 



For only $45 you could be the proud owner of a Rock-N-Road CD holder. 
This CD travel case, which holds as many as 12 discs, is made from recy- 
cled materials, such as license plates, street signs, and 
recycled truck tire inner tubes. Little Earth 
Productions touts it as “just as funky as the 
music it carries,” and informs us that 
the Rock-N-Road CD holder also 
stores CD-ROMs. 



Planning^ 

for the 

Golden Years 



Who needs action-packed games 
when there’s RetireReady /, a dedicated ^ 
retirement guide on CD-ROM. “This product 
is a wake-up call,” says Diane Dietzler, vice 
president of sales and marketing for 
Individual Software, who points out that a 
baby boomer turns 50 every 90 seconds. 
The title, which lists for $49.95, performs 
such uplifting tasks as income analyses 
that help you develop a “realistic plan” for 
retirement And, the What If utility lets you 
fantasize ideal retirement scenarios with 
imaginary finances. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 



/ 




I 



Damn, Pm 
Looking Good 




Imagine playing Duke Nukem 
3D in a darkened pod, on a 
33-inch high-res monitor, with 
an intercom for taunting 
through a six-channel sur- 
round sound system. It’s a 
gamer’s wet dream come true, 
and it’s called The Otherside 
(TOS) Gaming Facility. Located 
in Seattle, Wash., the first 
TOS site just opened with 
Duke , Descent ll t ATF, and 
Warbirds playing in the simu- 
lation pods. In addition to 
being a gaming arcade, TOS 
is also a retail outlet for gam- 
ing software and hardware 
products. The Seattle TOS is a 
prototype store. Similar facili- 
ties will open in different 
areas of the country "as 
rapidly as feasible,” according 
to a TOS spokesperson. 




Aeon Flux: The Game, 
The Movie, The Legend 

The sexually charged, dangerous, yet fallible, 
superheroine Aeon Flux has both a video game 
and motion picture currently in production. 

The game, due out on the PC before Christmas, 
is a 3D beat-'em-up with some adventure ele- 
ments. Players will control the MTV-owned hero- 
ine as she engages 
in first-person com- 
bat sequences and 
explores 3D mazes. 

The movie is still in 
preproduction, but 
currently scheduled 
to be a live action 
feature. According 
to Aeon Flux crea- 
tor, Peter Chung, 
some major actress- 
es have approached 
MTV about playing 
the part. We're pic- 
turing Emma 




Thompson in the role. 





Virtual 
Cadaver 
Reincarnated 



The Dissectable Human CD-ROM 
has been given a new lease on life 
by the international health science 
publisher Mosby, a subsidiary of 
The Times Mirror Co. To create the 
3D database featured in this learn- 
ing tool, the body of a legally exe- 
cuted male (a convicted murderer) 
was immersed in gelatin, very slowly frozen, and then sliced 
from head to toe into 1,800 sheets only one millimeter in 
thickness (kinda like pastrami). The Dissectable Human is now 
available for a suggested retail price of $49.95. 



Let’s do Lunch 

Steven Spielberg officially enters the 
world of multimedia this fall when 
Knowledge Adventure releases his game, 
Movie Maker. 

The game is a movie-making sim fea- 
turing Quentin Tarantino, Jennifer 
Aniston, and Penn and Teller. Spielberg 
himself is also featured in the title as 
your on-screen guide and mentor. 

The object of the game is to direct a 
successful film, while managing bud- 
gets and schedules, as you attempt to 
make it onto Hollywood's A-list” of 
directors. Once on the A-list, you can 
promote and distribute your work in 
person or over the Web. Players must 
overcome the same real-life problems 
Spielberg encountered behind the cam- 
era during shooting for the disc, such as 
delays in stunt production, stars being 
injured during fight sequences, and the 
incredible distractions of having Aniston 
on the set. 



While so-called “smart” tele- 
phones offer a mind-boggling 
array of exciting new features, 
learning all of the somewhat com- 
plicated functions requires train- 
ing and often ends up in poten- 
tially valuable calls being lost 

It's just plain annoying. 

But the high-tech mavens who 
created this convenience of mod- 
em science have come up with an 
equally handy solution. Northern 
Telecom (NorteQ announced it is 
offering a $30 virtual reality train- 
ing application on CD-ROM, so 
businesses can easily teach their 
employees how to use the many 
functions of its Meridian 1 tele- 
phone system. 

Take My Files, 
Please 

Would you grant an outside ser- 
vice total access to your compa- 
ny’s files? Telebackup Systems, 
an “emerging” Canadian soft- 
ware developer is now offering a 
low cost, fully automatic, full- 
system, daily backup service 
called Wide Area Network (WAN, 
not to be confused with WAN). 
For just $15 to $20 per month 
per PC, WAN will read your files 
via modem and store them at the 
service provider's location. 
According to a recent press 
release, Telebackup “hopes to 
capture the position of market 
leader.” With your files, and 
those of other companies, the 
task should be that much easier 
for the Canadian startup. 




t AUG/SEPT 96 • 19 





#1 Selling PC Game, Jan-April 1996 PC Data Report • Game of the Year, PC Gamer* 
Multiplayer Game of the Year, PC Gamer • Golden Triad Award, Computer Game Review* 
Game of the Year, Computer Gaming World Readers' Choice • Best On-line Game, C/NET 




8 Players Head to Head Battle over land, sea and air Custom Map Builder included Rule as Ore or Human 









2 New Story Lines! 



24 New Scenarios! 



Over 50 Custom Maps! 



800-953-SNOW 

www.blizzard.com 






Product Information Number 83 












icrosoft is the big fish on the PC 
platform , and gaming is the big 
pond in the PC market. Why 
haven't they come together in a bigger 
way? We went to Microsoft to talk 
about how the company is increasing its 
focus on the gaming industry in three 
major ways. First, more than 50 percent 
of Microsoft-owned Softimage's revenue 
now comes from sales of graphics soft- 
ware to game developers. Second, 
Windows 95 is being promoted as the 
best way to play games on a PC. Third, 
Microsoft is ramping up its game pub- 
lishing division, from releasing just four 
titles in 1995 to a scheduled 10 in 1996, 
plus those in conjunction with their 
joint venture partner, DreamWorks 
SKG. Neil West and Chris Charla of 
boot's sister publication Next Genera- 
tion visited with the supreme deity of 
operating systems and new player in 
the game market, Bill Gates, about 
these developments. 

boot: Given the success of Flight Simulator, 
and the boom of the PC game industry, why 
hasn’t Microsoft put its full weight behind 
an assault on the gaming world before? 

Bill: We saw the embarrassment of how 

hard it was to install games, and the 
conflicts between DOS 
games and productivity 
applications after we 
shipped Windows 3.1. 
And we saw it as hold- 
ing back the home 
computer market. You 
really shouldn't have 
to have an expert 
friend to dig into your 



configuration file. And games were part of 
that. So part of [our goal] was making the 
PC a more stable platform, having the 
games not destabilize the other things you 
were doing. 

boot: Of course, many of Microsoft’s 
other projects have significance for 
the game market... 

Bill: The commitment to do the 
world's best graphics architecture 
started about three years ago, but 
these things take time so we 
brought in the really smart people, 
and some of the super-advanced 
elements of this you won’t see in 
the market for a couple of years. 

Then we'll be able to say, “Hey, we 
think we're way beyond even the 
most expensive Silicon Graphics 
workstation you can buy today, and 
at PC price-points.” 
boot: Microsoft is increasing its 
focus on the gaming industry. Is 
this merely a few divisions of a large 
company unilaterally moving to the 
gaming sector, or is this part of a 
larger company objective? 

Bill: Well, hopefully it’s a larger 

company objective 
[laughs]. You know, the 
use of the PC in the 
home environment is 
increasing and gaming 
is a big part of that. 
People love to play 
games, and most of the 
things you do to make 
games better are 
things that apply to 
other software as 
well. I mean, 
enabling the audio 
to work well and 
the graphics to be 
fast. Games are a 
great way to mea- 
sure progress 
there, because 
game writers are 



just super demanding, and they’ve basically 
ignored Windows. Up until Windows 95, 
the way you wrote a game was you wrote 
around the operating system. Even 

Microsoft’s own Flight 
Simulator was a DOS 
product, and it’s only now 
that we’re building the 
Windows version of that. 
And it was all just about 
speed. That whole 
notion of, “Do our graph- 
| ics layers give flexibility, 
or do they just slow things 
down?” Well, there’s no 
harder-core audience 
than the gaming commu- 
nity to go out and ask, 
“What does it take?” 

It always causes prob- 
m lems if you go around 
the operating system. I 
mean, like installing 
DOS games a couple of 
years ago, where you had a 
different audio card, or 
you sometimes used 
Windows, but you’d like to 
run games that didn’t work under 
Windows. It was a nightmare. 

And we're just working our way out of 
that. With the broad popularity of Windows 
95 and the support from the gaming guys 
and the hardware guys, you know, we’re 
finally to the point where a person can say, 
“Yeah, you don't have to know somebody 
who's an expert to do these things.” 
boot: And Windows 95 has really been the 
focal point for all this effort, by providing an 
easy-to-use “Plug-and-Play” environment? 
Bill: Games don’t use the file system very 
much. So basically, until Windows 95, 
games were written to the hardware. Now, 
with the variety of audio cards and graphics 
cards that are out there, it was becoming as 
much of a nightmare for the developers — 
testing and installing — as printer drivers 
were for productivity applications before, 
say, a decade ago when we finally started to 



“... people always 
told me that 
Windows would 
never succeed 
because character 
mode was faster, 
and characters 
would always 
scroll faster, and 
people could just 
go to the frame- 
buffer faster than 
they could write | 
through Windows. 
Well, today, you 
don’t— except in 
the game world, 
and that’s now | 
changing.”^! 



Microsoft Chairman and CEO Bill Gates explains exactly why the PC is the ultimate game platform 






WIRE 



Gaming According to Gates 





While he makes no bones about the unattractive com- 
plexities that plagued DOS, Bill Gates is confident that 
Win 95 will facilitate the PC’s dominance in gaming. 



get those into the operating systems. 

Nobody today thinks, “Oh, I'll write a 
unique print driver.” That’s Microsoft’s 
problem to work with the printer guys to 
get all of those drivers done. 

And so we said, “Hey, we're going to 
make Windows 95 attractive for game devel- 
opers, so they’ll stop writing DOS applica- 
tions.” I'm sure some people here were 
skeptical about ever getting those guys to 
stop going around it. Well, part of our 
breakthrough was that it turns out that — 
because the blitters all worked a little bit 
differently — PC hardware actually has some 
acceleration capabilities that the DOS peo- 
ple weren’t using. But by abstracting those 
blitters out, we actually gave people a layer 
where they often would run faster than they 
had with DOS. And this started to open 
peoples’ minds. 

boot: Direct3D, in theory, provides the illu- 
sion of a standardized 3D graphics accelera- 
tion specification. Because of the slight over- 
head of the Direct3D APIs and drivers, when 
one writes directly to the hardware and 
bypasses Windows 95, there will always be 
a marginal speed boost. Since marginal in- 
creases are often what separates a killer app 
(Doom, Sonic) from the also-rans, isn’t there 
a danger that game developers will still by- 
pass Direct3D, and hence Microsoft's soft- 
ware, in pursuit of a competitive advantage? 
Bill: No. Three percent performance gains 
do not make the difference between a killer 
application and... 





Close Combat, a 
real-time strategy 
game, is one of 
10 titles coming 
from Microsoft 
this year. 



boot: You’re sure that 
Windows 95 will only suck 
a 3 percent loss? 

Bill: Our job is to make 
sure that 3 percent is all it 
is. The thing that you’re 
spending time on is draw- 
ing the polygons or filling 
in the textures, and for this 
the API is thin to the accel- 
erated hardware, and you’re 
not going through it again and again. If we 
find a case where somebody wants to go to 
the hardware [thus bypassing Windows 95], 
if they’re really going for that extra 3 per- 
cent, we’ll tell them they're crazy because 
it’ll make their job a nightmare. They’ll 
never be able to keep up with it. But if [the 
advantage of bypassing Windows 95] is 
more than 3 percent, then we need to make 
sure our API gets richer. 

So no, I don't see a problem with that. I 
mean, people always told me that Windows 
would never succeed because character 
mode was faster, and characters would 
always scroll faster, and people could just go 
to the frame buffer faster than they could 
write through Windows. Well, today, you 
don’t — except in the game world, and that’s 
now changing. The speed differences in 
absolutes got small enough that the benefits 
were very, very strong. 

And there are benefits to being able to 
receive a fax in the background, or being 
able to just hit a button and go over and 
look at something else. I mean, our vision 
of your computer is that you basically never 
turn it off. And if you want to look up a 
movie review on the Internet, or if you 
want to see about spending money, or see 
if messages have come in, it’s got to be 
there all the time. This boot-time thing is 
just ridiculous. 



look to its joystick 
cousin, Microsoft's Sidewinder 
Game Pad will be available in 
October for about $40. 



In addition to the 10 games to be released this year 
on the Microsoft label, a series of titles made in con- 
junction with their joint venture, DreamWorks SKG, is 
due this holiday season. 



boot: To what extent should console-based 
gaming’s current major players fear 
Microsoft’s arrival? 

Bill: [Smiles] Well, not really. Usually, if you 
want a PC and the kind of richness and 
general purpose things that it provides (you 
know, bring your work home, write your 
homework, all that), then you generally 
know before you walk into the store that 
you want that. It’s possible that when you 
buy a PC, then you say, “Hey, now I don’t 
need to buy a game platform, I’ll just do 
everything on my PC.” 

So even though the PC is more expen- 
sive and even though it’ll edge down to the 
$700 to $800 range over the next two or 
three years, it is a very, very different price 
point to $200. But when you buy games, 
you’ll be able to find low-cost games in the 
$20 to $30 range for our platform. 

So, yes, in a sense we’re in competition. 

I mean, if we’re promising to make graph- 
ics on the PC better than on a Silicon 
Graphics workstation, we sure as heck are 
going to make them better than on a $200 
game device. We’ve lagged behind [Sony’s 
PlayStation handles texturing better than 
most PCs], but the PCs you’re going to start 
to see, maybe six months from now — cer- 
tainly in the next 12 months — will be way 
beyond that. 

boot: Do you currently see stronger con- 
tent on the PC or on the game 
machines? 

Bill: Well, I think boxing games are 
better on the dedicated consoles. 

But if you get really broad and 
include Myst - like games, I mean, give me a 
break! There you need the storage and rich- 
ness that comes with a PC. 0 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 23 









MultiSync is a registered trademark and CromaCuar, M500, M700 and See, Hear and Feel the Difference are trademarks of NEC Technologies, Inc. Windows and the Windows 95 logo are registered trademarks 






The New MultiSync® M Series Monitors 
With Revolutionary CromaClear’“ CRT Technology. 

While the others have been content to merely 

change their monitors, we were bent on changing the 

entire industry. Introducing the MultiSync M Series 

monitors from NEC - a new generation of monitors 

that will forever change your expectations regarding 

image quality. 

The MultiSync M500'" and M700"'’ monitors are the 
first to incorporate GromaClear, NEC’s patented new 
CRT technology. Similar in design to that found in 
today’s televisions, CromaClear lets you view text, 
graphics and video with enhanced focus, greater color 
Designed for saturation, better contrast and increased 
depth and dimension. Simply put, you’ll 

Microsoft 

windows 95 enjoy the brightest, sharpest, clearest 



images in the industry - just what you’ve come to 
expect from NEC. 

What’s more, our Video Boost feature automatically 
sets the monitor screen to the optimal contrast and 
brightness level for viewing TV and video images. 
Built-in speakers allow you to customize sound 
for movie, music, games and voice 
conferencing applications. There’s even 
a built-in microphone. 

In addition to PC and Macintosh® 
compatibility, the MultiSync M Series 
monitors feature Plug and Play 
compatibility for Windows® 95 and are 
backed by a 3-year limited warranty. 

The MultiSync M Series monitors from NEC. 
Think of them less as new monitors, more as the 
standard by which all others will be judged. To 
learn more about either the MultiSync M500 or 
M700 monitors, call 1-800-NEC-INFO. To have the 
information sent to you by fax, simply call 
1-800-366-0476 and request document #157201. Or 
contact us on the Internet at http://www.nec.com. 

SEE, HEAR AND FEEL THE DIFFERENCE: 






of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. GSA #GSOOK94AG5241PS01. ’£1996 NEC Technologies, Inc. Key #27551. 



Product Information Number 123 



1 




MMX Means Faster 
Multimedia 

Intel delivers matrix multiplication, fast Fourier transforms, discrete 
cosign transforms, and phoneme matching 



I f Intel’s x86 microprocessor architecture 
were a person, it would be old enough to 
vote for president this fall. (Though given 
the available options, it would probably 
choose to stay home.) Instead, the x86 will 
celebrate its 18th birthday by giving PC 
users a gift: better multimedia performance. 

Intel is adding 57 new instructions spec- 
ifically designed to speed up multimedia 
graphics and sound on x86-based machines. 
Programs taking advantage of these instruc- 
tions will run noticeably faster and more 
efficiently. The new capability is called 
MMX (which used to stand for “multimedia 
extensions” but is now, according to Intel, 
just a brand name). 

MMX will first show up in a Pentium 
code-named the P55C. This processor 
will likely run at 200MHz and incorporate 
other improvements, such as larger on-chip 
caches. But MMX is the real news. It’s the 
most important revision to the x86 since 
Intel stretched the architecture from 16 to 
32 bits in 1985. 

Eventually, all x86 chips will offer 
MMX, including x86-compatible chips 
from Intel’s competitors. MMX is support- 
ed by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), 
NexGen (which is owned by AMD), Cyrix 
(which is adding MMX to its new M2 
processor), and IBM (which licenses its x86 
designs from Cyrix). All plan to introduce 
MMX-compatible processors late this year 
or in 1997. Intel is adding MMX to the 
Pentium Pro next year as well. 

Unfortunately, existing software won’t 
benefit from MMX. Developers must either 
revise their current programs to use the 
new instructions or build MMX into their 
new products. Fortunately, since Intel 
released the technical information to soft- 
ware developers months ago, the first 
MMX-compatible software will appear when 
the P55C debuts before year's end. 



Intel is trying to accelerate the adoption 
of MMX by integrating it into the x86 archi- 
tecture as painlessly as possible. This isn’t 
easy with a standard dating back to 1978. 

For example, when Intel introduced the first 
386 in 1985, the 32-bit revisions were so 
extensive that few software developers took 
advantage of them. Only now, 11 years later, 
are PC users migrating to 32-bit operating 
systems such as Windows 95 and Windows 
NT. Most of the PC software in circulation 
is still 16-bit. 

To keep the same thing from happening 
this time, Intel made a few technical com- 
promises. For example, MMX adds eight 
new processor registers for the exclusive 
use of its own instructions. Except they 
aren't really new registers at all — they’re 
mapped into the existing stack of floating- 
point registers so cleverly that existing 
software can't tell the difference. Upside: 
Current operating systems don't have to 
be modified to manage the new registers. 
Downside: If programmers carelessly mix 
floating-point and MMX instructions in the 
same code sequence, performance could 
actually get worse. 

Although MMX instructions borrow the 
floating-point registers, they're all integer 
operations. That’s OK, because multimedia 
processing is typically integer intensive. The 
operations that MMX will speed up include 
MPEG video compression, wavelet com- 
pression, motion estimation, motion com- 
pensation, color space conversion, texture 
mapping, 2D filtering, matrix multiplica- 
tion, fast Fourier transforms, discrete 
cosign transforms, and phoneme matching. 
That covers a wide range of audio and video 
needs common in processor-intensive 
games and multimedia software. 

For instance, consider a fast-paced game 
that runs in 8-bit color mode. Today’s x86 
processors can only animate one pixel at a 




time. MMX includes new instructions that 
can shuffle eight pixels simultaneously. 

And MMX does not threaten backward 
compatibility: If an MMX program is run- 
ning on a non-MMX processor, it can revert 
back to the regular x86 instructions. 

Multimedia PCs equipped with MMX 
chips will cost about the same as their non- 
MMX counterparts do today. In other 
words, if you are buying a new system 
in the near future, make sure to get the 
MMX chip and you’ll get the extra perfor- 
mance for free. That’s a birthday present 
worth celebrating. 

— Tom R. Halfhill 



Nexts,op: Merced 

Next generation processor poised to 
cut short the life of the Pentium Pro 

The Pentium Pro’s successor, code- 
named Merced, is currently being sampled 
to OEMs and is expected to be introduced 
in the final months of 1997. Intel is not 
revealing any specific information about 
Merced or any other P7 processors, but 
three variations of the chip are reportedly 
in the works. 

Intel’s Merced is a 64-bit processor 
that is expected to be twice as fast as 
the 200MHz Pentium Pro and able to run 
16-bit and 32-bit x86 code. Merced will 
incorporate the MMX instruction set for 
enhanced MPEG, audio, graphics, telepho- 
ny, and video conferencing capabilities, 
according to Mike Shuster of Intel. 

According to reports published on the 
Web, the second P7 processor is a deriva- 
tive of Merced designed by Hewlett- 
Packard. It includes a PA-RISC instruction 
set optimized to run HP’s upcoming 64-bit 
Unix OS. The third variation of Merced is 
being codesigned by HP and Intel. This 
P7, code-named Tahoe, is due to appear 
in 1998 for a 64-bit Windows OS. 

Intel has already cut the price on 
its Pentium Pro processors up to 50 per- 
cent in an effort to move existing stock 
and recover R&D and production costs. 
Another price reduction is expected this 
fall. As a result, consumers are likely to 
see the price of Pentium Pro desktops, 
currently retailing at around $5,000, to 
drop dramatically in the coming months. 

- D.L 



26 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 



DVD: Turn of the Century Technology 



Don’t throw your CD-ROM drive away just yet 



T he first DVD-ROM drives and 
movie players are set to start 
shipping by the end of this year. 

But before you wait for a DVD- 
ROM drive to arrive instead of pick- 
ing up a new 8x CD-ROM drive, 
be warned: Software for DVD is 
not likely to arrive until late next 
year. If then. 

There are two reasons for the lag 
between the arrival of DVD hard- 
ware and software. First, there is no 
technology solution for copyright 
protection in place, at the time of 
this writing. DVD’s increased stor- 
age capacity allows it to hold digital 
video and audio, which cost more 
money to produce and, subsequent- 
ly, increase publishers’ desire to 
protect their work from piracy. The 
second reason is a lack of enthusi- 
asm for DVD among many of the 
major software developers. A 



and Creative Multi- 
media, are not likely to 
release a new DVD title 
with original content in 
time for Christmas 1997 or 1998. 
Developers with multiple-disc titles 
in their catalog, such as Activision 
(which is planning to release DVD 
versions of Spycraft and Zork 
Nemesis), may be able to repurpose 
their games for DVD in 1996, but 
it's unlikely that reruns will create a 
demand for DVD-ROM drives. 

“People will go out and buy 
DVD for one title,” says Peter 
Nicholas Biddle, technical evange- 
list in Microsoft’s platform group. 
Biddle agrees, however, that the 
so-called "killer app” must be an 
original that, in one way or another, 
takes advantage of DVD’s advanced 
capabilities: the data transfer rate 




medium in the 
near future. 
“There are 
issues,” says 
Steve Feldstein, director of market- 
ing and communications for DVD 
at Philips. “In terms of ROM devel- 
opment, it’s a ’97 product.” Sources 
at Panasonic say they see DVD’s 
mass arrival coming in 1998. 

On the movie player side, DVD 
seems poised for holiday success. 

In June, a copyright protection 
solution was agreed upon by the 
Motion Picture Association of 
America (MPAA) and Consumer 
Electronic Manufacturers Assoc- 
iation (CEMA). Time Warner, 
which has been working with 
Toshiba on DVD from the start, 
has announced that it will release 
more than 100 movie titles on DVD 



MB for MB: 

The Top-Selling 
Titles 

The megabyte tally of 
today’s top-selling titles 
makes a strong argument 
against the immediate 
need for DVD’s 4.7GB 
storage capadty. 

WarCraft II: Tides of 
Darkness 132MB 

CiviUzation 2 357MB 

Myst 253MB 

Descent II 335MB 

Microsoft Right 
Simulator 20.3MB 

Seme: PC Data (June 1996) 



spokesperson for a top-10 enter- A spokesperson for a top-10 entertainment software developer... 
tainment software developer, described his company’s feelings about DVD as “apathetic.” 

who wishes to remain anony- 



mous, described his company’s 
feelings about DVD as “apathetic." 

The top reasons for this malaise 
cited by the spokesperson are the 
lack of a final spec on the DVD 
standard and that hardware manu- 
facturers have not made working 
prototypes available to developers 
for testing. In addition, other than 
reference titles, which do not drive 
the market, many developers feel 
DVD's increased storage capacity is 
not needed for anything beyond 
video, which historically has done 
nothing for gaming. Most top-sell- 
ing games, such as Duke Nukem 
3D (98.9MB) and Mech-Warrior 2 
(122MB), don’t come close to filling 
a 650MB CD-ROM. 

Given the typical 18-month peri- 
od to produce a game once the final 
spec is announced, even the compa- 
nies who have voiced support for 
DVD, such as Activision, Softkey, 



(4.69 Mbits/sec versus the 0.9 
Mbits/sec of a 6x CD-ROM drive), 
AC3 audio (six-channel digital 
audio), or MPEG2 (broadcast quali- 
ty video), and, of course, the vastly 
increased storage (4.7GB) capacity. 

Meanwhile, hardware manufac- 
turers have different theories about 
when DVD will be embraced by 
consumers. Toshiba, Compaq, 

IBM, and Hewlett-Packard have 
all announced plans to ship DVD- 
ROM drives, either as stand-alone 
devices or in their new lines of sys- 
tems, before the end of this year. 
“We see it in our ultimate multime- 
dia machine for this Christmas,” 
says Laurie Frick, vice president 
of emerging markets at Compaq. 
“Then, in late 1997, it will be in all 
of our high-end systems.” Panaso- 
nic, Philips, Sony, and others expect 
to ship DVD-ROM drives by year’s 
end, but none see DVD as a viable 



movie discs before 
Christmas. 

As was the case 
with CD-ROM, the 
emergence of the 
DVD-ROM format will 
take time, but DVD is 
expected to be a mass 
market item until the 
end of the century. 
Those craving the lead- 
ing edge will take the 
leap to DVD and 
endure the growing 
pains. Those seeking a 
stable technology 
should stick to CD- 
ROM — which has only 
recently matured into 
a manageable and 
affordable medium — 
for at least another 
year, maybe two. 

— Doug Lombardi 




boot AUG/SEPT 1996 • 27 




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Product Information Number 119 






GAME THEORY WITH T. LIAM MCDONALD 



VOICE 



hate Myst. 

I At times I consider this a failing. 
Everyone speaks so breathlessly 
about how much they loved it, how 
they were transported by it. They compare 
it to classic literature such as Lewis 
Carroll’s Alice books or the fantasies of 
J.R.R. Tolkien. They go on and on about 
playing all night. Listening to this, I feel I 
must be some joyless troll who insists 
upon missing the point. Have I lost my 
childlike sense of wonder? 

Then I boot the damn thing up, play 
for a few minutes, and say... naaaah. 

I come from the old school. My first 
experiences with PC games were early 
Infocom titles such as Hitchhikers’ Guide 
to the Galaxy, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, 
and, of course, Zork. These games were 
full of true wonder and imagination, or at 
least they seemed that way to our enter- 
tainment-starved brains. You’d type com- 
mands like “go westi open 
door,” and follow the text 
that streamed out in 
response. It was like a book 
unfolding at your fingertips. 

It was entertaining, it was 
imaginative, and I haven’t 
played one in years. 

Why? Gaming moved 
on, and I followed. I found 
Railroad Tycoon and Eye 
of the Beholder and 
Civilization and Doom: 
games that made the text parser of yester- 
day look about as practical as trying to 
freeway commute in a horse and buggy. 
They opened up entirely new possibilities. 
You see, at the time, computer users had 
to be familiar with the working of the 
machines. Game designs could be com- 
plex, with countless prompts, icons, and 
commands. Designers weren’t afraid of 
the gamer. 

The PC user of today is most likely 
someone with only a passing familiarity 
of their computer. As the market expands, 
the knowledge level of the average com- 
puter buyer drops. They’re good with 
point-and-dick interfaces, but the notion 
of editing a CONFIG.SYS file would send 
them screaming into the night. Therefore 
it is assumed the complex inventory man- 



agement system of an RPG or the detailed 
fiscal elements of Railroad Tycoon would 
intimidate them. 

So, the logic goes, the game industry 
must create a game with no inventory, no 
complex elements, no pain. Looks are 
more important than substance. It has to 
be non-threatening. It has to be friendly 
and new-agey. Just try; you can't really 



fluid movement, but the result is not 
nearly the same as in a true 3D computer 
environment such as Doom or 
MechWarrior 2. 

The resulting Director-based game is, 
at best, only minimally interactive. The 
best you can get is “twiddleware,” a game 
in which you can mess around with dials, 
levers, blocks, and buttons to reach the 



fail. And you certainly can’t die. It’s the next image or sequence of images. 

I AM MYSTIFIED 

TODAY'S TWIDDLEWARE LEAVES ME FLAT. WHATEVER HAPPENED 

TO THE LEATHER GODDESSES OF PHOBOS ANYWAY? 




Myst formula, and, if sales are any indica- 
tion, it is the most popular form of com- 
puter entertainment ever. 

I won’t begrudge Myst creators Rand 
and Robyn Miller their mam- 
moth success, and not just 
because they now have 
enough money to buy 
their own Middle Eastern 
country and order a 
fatwa against infidel game 
reviewers. God bless ’em. 
They made what the people 
wanted and gave many 
great pleasure. Would we 
1 live so long and perform 
such feats. 

But to the die-hard PC gamer, Myst 
was a Pandora’s Box. It unleashed an 
entirely new style of game design, and 
countless imitators rushed to cash in. 

Myst and its kin are essentially slide 
shows with hot spots. Artists render 
numerous camera angles of an environ- 
ment. You click through these images as 
though navigating a real world. At certain 
points, these shots are minimally animat- 
ed with overlaid video clips. At others, 
they’re “hot,” or interactive. 

Besides Myst, Macromedia Director 
has made all of this possible. Director is 
powerful presentation software that can 
combine bitmaps, video files, and minor 
interactive sequences into the form of a 
game. Some developers cross fade 
bitmaps in an attempt to create a more 



Interaction is limited to clicking in the 
proper sequence. Period. That’s all she 
wrote. These are computerized Rubik's 
Cubes, and they are stultifyingly boring 
and fatally uninventive. 

And they're everywhere. The Martian 
Chronicles, Queensryche Promised Land, 
Zeddas, The Last Dynasty, Robot City, Total 
Distortion, Gadget, Hell Cab. Do I 
need to go on? 

These are the Sons of Myst: the 
mutant, bastard offspring of a fiscal- 
ly successful game. They are the 
interactive equivalent of a Die Hard 
rip-off in the movies (i.e., Under 
Siege, Sudden Death, Passenger 57): 
titles pumped out to cash in on a 
proven formula. Knock off games 
like this can be created in a fraction 
of the time (and with fewer people, 
and at less cost) than a fully ren- 
dered, free range-of-motion environ- 
ment such as Terra Nova or Duke 
Nukem 3D. Their high-res bitmaps 
are alluring on the surface, but as 
hollow inside as a chocolate Easter bunny. 
To gamers weaned on expansive, inven- 
tive games that let you explore at will, use 
their minds, wage wars, and build 
empires, this format is anathema. 

I can think of only one successful title 
that used this format, and that is The 
Dark Eye. As expected, The Dark Eye fails 
utterly as a game, since it is only margin- 
ally interactive. But it succeeds, through a 
dazzling combination of imagery, ► 120 



T. LIAM 
MCDONALD 

is the all- 
knowing god 
of gaming. 
He also 
writes about 
computers, 
literature, and 
horror for 
numerous 
mags. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 



29 



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Product Information Number 90 




ON THE LINE WITH SHEL KIMEN 



VOICE 



P ower user. They call me a power 
user. I’m online constantly, devel- 
oping hard-core, heavy multime- 
dia content for the Web or 
uploading multiple, mega-huge files to a 
server. Heavy and huge being the opera- 
tive words here. When I'm slaving for 
The Net magazine, no problem, I've got a 
T1 plugged into my brain. But when I’m 
at home, my poor little 28.8 clogs up with 
Shockwave files and QuickTime VR. Spit. 
Gurgle. Connection timed-out! If you fig- 
ure the standard 28.8 takes about 1 second 
to download lk, those 400k of multimedia 
decadence will consume a whopping 
6.666 minutes to transfer. 

And that’s ONE file. Ouch. 

So, in searching for home-style band- 
width solutions, what’s a girl to do? ISDN 
or cable? 

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital 
Network) has been hot hot HOT in 
Europe for the past five years. And it’s 
just now catching fire in the states. 

During the last year, companies such as 
Supra, US Robotics, and 3Com have 
released ISDN modems to support the 
various online and Internet service 
providers (MSN, EarthLink, CompuServe, 
and Netcom to name a few) who offer 
ISDN access. 

Most ISDN modems are switchable 
between analog 28.8 access and the high 
speed up to 128 Kbps infrastruc- 
ture of ISDN access, and some 
can even switch to accommo- 
date standard analog voice lines 
without disrupting your con- 
nection. But the modem will 
cost you anywhere from $300 
to $1,000 depending on which 
features it supports. 

Hmm, modem or rent? 

That’s a tough one. 

But don’t think you’re done 
with the bills yet. There’s a 
healthy fee for installing this 
line of wonder. To get ISDN wired to your 
house, expect somewhere in the neighbor- 
hood of $150 in setup fees alone, before 
any additional usage charges. Home 
ISDN (Single Line Residential ISDN) 
from PacBell costs $125 for a one-time 
ISDN installation, plus $34.75 for a one- 



time line installation, plus a line charge of 
$24.50 per month, in addition to — here’s 
the kicker — usage charges. Though 
PacBell will gladly waive the installation 
fee if you’ll sign a contract that says you’ll 
use their sendee for at least two years. 
Forced loyalty, you gotta love it. 



prevented the cable industry from seizing 
the market have vanished into thin air — 
just like our freedom of online speech! 

So, assuming @Home pulls off the 
grand experiment successfully, the next 
logical question is: Why would your typi- 
cal everyday user even want faster access? 



GIVE ME BANDWIDT 

ISDN OR CABLE MODEM, $ OR VAPOR. . . THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION, 




Cable modems (see Pure Lust, page 
35), will be provided by local cable compa- 
nies and service will run around $30 per 
month for unlimited access, which is con- 
siderably cheaper than its ISDN counter- 
part (a fact you already know if you added 
up all the numbers above). While all the 
rage in a small corner of northern 
California — where the mighty citizen 
Hearst family has teamed up with TCI to 
run @Home, a prototype cable modem 
service — cable modems do look very 
promising... though the current distribu- 
tion scheme is a little shaky. OK, distribu- 
tion is very shaky. Less than 50 people 
had one of these little darlings in June, 
though the company promises they will 
someday be well distributed and transfer 
your bits really really fast. Did I mention 
fast? Imagine 28MB 
| per second. You 
could sp lit the bandwidth between 
everyone in your house 
(including the dog), watch 
cable television at 
the same time, and 
still outrun the expensive 
ISDN line your neighbor’s 
shelling out the big bucks 
for. While some weak- 
willed individuals insist 
on whining about “poorly 
installed and manufactured cable 
lines that need to be upgraded,” with 
money like Hearst, TCI and Visa backing 
it up, I think they’ll be able to hire a few 
extra technicians to get the job done. And, 
with the deregulation of the telecom 
industry and the Communications Decen- 
cy Act (grrrr!), any other roadblocks that 



And while we’ve got 
Real Audio | 

(on demand), do 

you really think | 

it will be long before 
we get RealVideo 
on demand?) 
RealGaming on 
demand? RealSex 
on demand? 



Look alive! Just because you ain’t building 
Shockwave files for some prestigious 
Web design firm (yet) doesn’t mean 
you’re not going to have to download 
some of this hoo-haa from your friendly 
neighborhood site. And while we’ve got 
Real Audio (on demand), do you really 
think it will be long before we get 
RealVideo on demand? RealGaming on 
demand? RealSex on demand? As more 
and more of us site developers drop big- 
ger, better, and prettier bandwidth-hog- 
ging files into cyberspace, more and more 
casual surfers will have to upgrade to see 
the monuments we’ve created. 

@Home has built its entire service 
around the elusive cable modem. With 
intense inline video, voluptuous VRML, 
Shockwave up the wazoo and graphics to 
shame any other online creation, 

(a) Home is planning to swallow the band- 
width issue in one gulp. They aren’t wor- 
rying about the small fry, low-bandwidth, 
text-based cyber surfers, and don’t really 
seem to care about anyone who’s not 
using Netscape. The only glitch is that to 
support the speed a cable modem can 
offer, and really optimize its potential, 
you’re gonna need a monster system with 
mega RAM and improved chip architec- 
ture. (That liquid-cooled Alpha laptop at 
Digital is probably looking pretty nice 
now.) Which means, even though cable 
access to the online world of the future 
will be affordable, the system needed to 
get in the door might not be. 

So back to the all-important question, 
cable or ISDN? 

A better question is: Anyone out there 
building a better compression tool? Q 




SHEL KIMEN 

(shol@thcnet- 
usH.com) Web 
Diroctor 
for the Net 
magazine, 
http://www. 
tlionet usa. 
com, has spent 
more time 
online than is 
reasonably 
healthy for one 
person and 
dreams 
in hypertext. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 



ON THE LINE 




ON THE ROAD 



ON THE ROAD WITH ANGELA LoSASSO 



VOICE 



U sing a desktop system is like lug- 
ging the proverbial ball and 
chain. If I wanted that, I would 
have married when I was 18. 
When a desktop is your primary sys- 
tem, you’re stuck. You must move to the 
information. And stay. Need to open a 
file, write a letter, create a presentation, 
print a chart, check your e-mail? Ya gotta 
go back to your desktop. But we humans 
are mobile beings. We have legs. We 
walk. We go from room to room, from 
home to work, from city to city. The 



workday.) When the sounds of a hectic 
newsroom prove too challenging for my 
concentration, I would love to just walk 
downstairs, set myself down on some 
patio furniture and work in the Jurassic 
Park atrium of our office building. Except 
my keyboard cord doesn’t stretch that far. 
I’d love to work on a 12.1-inch crystal-dear 
active matrix screen under the blue sky 
peering through the open-air roof, head 
back upstairs when I’m good and ready, 
and synchronize and transfer files from 
my laptop to my desktop using some 



metaphor of the fixed position desktop handy program like LapLink. 

TIE ME UP, TIE ME DOWN 

WE HAVE LEGS. WE WALK. WE GO FROM ROOM TO ROOM, 
FROM HOME TO WORK, FROM CITY TO CITY 




just doesn't suit us. Doesn’t it make so 
much more sense to have a portable sys- 
tem — a PC that goes where you go? 

When I’m at work, I’m tethered by a 
three-foot keyboard cord that won’t even 
allow me to peek my head out of my cubi- 
cle. Worse, my keyboard doesn’t travel to 
editorial meetings — which is a real pain 
in the butt because my typing is a heck- 
uva lot faster and more accurate than my 
handwriting. (And, of course, everyone 
asks arcane questions about some dead- 
line five months from now or the status 
of an invoice submitted two years ago. 

But that knowledge is trapped back on 
my desktop. What I need is a laptop 
with an IR port so I can shoot a little 
red beam across the office, bounce it 
off a wall or two, and get the requested 
information from the network server 
sent to me in the meeting room.) 

Am I whining? Yeah. But with good 
reason. 

There are days when I really do need 
more soothing aesthetics. I like our 
modem offices enough, but when the 
fine, fine weather is screaming at me to 
come out and play, I’d rather have some 
sort of compromise position. (I conserve 
my more creative excuses for my editor 
in chief as to why I have to bolt over to 
Candlestick Park and watch a ballgame 
and eat hot dogs in the middle of a 



And the times when I'm not in the 
office, such as when I’m traveling (or as I 
prefer to call it: the world of waiting), too 
many hours are lost staring blankly out 
the window of the commuter train or in 
an airline terminal, waiting to board yet 
another flight (delayed, 
again), when I could 
have been more produc- 
tive. Like making pro- 
duction schedules, or 
writing assignment let- 
ters, or editing stories 
(or playing Duke 
Nukem 3D ... research purposes only, 
right?). Except all those schedules, form 
letters and stories (and digital shotguns) 
are stored on my desktop. 

Then there was the time I was headed 
back from a trade show where I scored an 
exclusive story. My ETA was 1 o'clock. My 
deadline was 5 o’clock. Not much time to 
grab my luggage and catch a cab to the 
office, but enough. I wrote the story by 
hand in the terminal in 30 minutes flat. I 
could quickly key it in back at the office. 
Once in the air, I stared and stared at my 
watch. I tapped my foot on the floor, 
wrapped my knuckles on the pull-down 
tray, and played miniature hockey using 
the airline honey roasted peanuts. 1 
looked out the window to discover we 
were shrouded in a dense gray fog, and 





r 



Humans are mobile 
beings. Doesn’t 
it make sense to have 
a portable 
system— a PC that ( 
goes where you go? 



just then the pilot mumbled something 
over the PA. The only discernible word 
was, “Delayed.” 

I’m ticked off. Won’t make the dead- 
line. No exclusive. 

As I banged my head against the seat 
in front of me, I noticed the in-flight 
phone. I could call the office and have a 
colleague transcribe my notes. I tried and 
got stuck in voicemail hell; would’ve left a 
number but what do I tell them, “Call seat 
14B on United flight 1567?” As I hung up, 

I noticed the phone had a fax/modem 
jack. And then I was really ticked off. It 
would have been great to transfer my 
notes, write and file the story from seat 
14B somewhere over the Midwest. Except 
my desktop keyboard didn’t stretch that 
far. That’s when I really needed a laptop 
with an internal modem or a PC card 
plug-in. Better yet, a cellular modem with 
a GTE wireless connection (just in case 
I’m sitting next to a super salesperson 
that has to hog the in-flight phone to 
schmooze clients from 30,000 feet). 

So after I got over losing the exclusive, 
I bought that laptop to give me some 
room to roam. I have every- 
thing I need from the desktop 
wrapped up in a “to-go” 
box. It’s so refreshing and 
easy to switch my modular 4x CD-ROM 
drive with my 3.5-inch floppy, 
connect a printer, and slap in 
a variety of PC cards 
(modem, network connection, flash mem- 
ory, etc.), unlike the acrobatics of connect- 
ing peripherals on a desktop where I have 
to climb over, under and around my sys- 
tem just to find the right port. I gave up 
banging heads, bruised body parts, cuts, 
scratches and general agility when I 
retired from competitive sports. I’d rather 
just watch these days. 

Which brings me to a happy conclu- 
sion. It’s the bottom of the ninth at 
Candlestick. Had my hot dog, Cracker 
Jacks and Coke. The Dodgers are ahead 
by five runs, and the bottom of the Giants 
order is due up. This one’s over. Might as 
well pack up my Gateway 2000 Solo 
Pentium and make the five-minute trek 
back to the office before the 4 o'clock 
status meeting. 0 



32 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 




PC Gamer 



“Terra Nova... 
equals, and some- 
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Mech Warrior2 or 
Wing Commander 

- Computer 
Gaming World 



“Terra Nova 
can’t be beat. 
Period.” 

- PC Games 



Experience the UuJMmt Real-time^otritfS^ame! 



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©1996 Looking Glass Technologies. Inc.. 
Cambridge, MA. Terra Nova is a trademark of 
Looking Glass Technologies. All rights reserved. 



Product Information Number 104 








HIGH-TECH TOYS AND TOOLS WITH THE RIGHT STUFF 



Takes a licking... 

FieldWorks’ new laptop and notebook computers are designed for harsh 
environments, such as the recon pod under the wing of an F-16. The 
Military Spec-compliant FW5000 notebook features a one-piece magne- 
sium alloy chassis that is 10 times stronger than plastic. The chassis is 
then covered with molded, shock-absorbing rubber, and all internal sub- 
systems are attached using polymer/aluminum suspension mounts. This 
enables the machine to withstand an operating shock of lOOGs. 
Depending on the options selected, FieldWorks’ computers can operate 
in the rain (up to four gallons per hour), in the presence of electromag- 
netic interference, and in extreme temperatures (from 5 degrees F to 122 
degrees F). Prices start at $4,995. 

FieldWorks; 612.947.0856 



Unwired 

With a Ricochet modem and account, plus a 
laptop or PDA, you can access the Internet, 
your office server, or a commercial online account from any Metricom ser- 
vice area (currently Seattle, Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay 
Area) without being tethered to a conventional phone line. The service 
costs $29.95 for unlimited access. 

The Ricochet network uses transceivers mounted on buildings and light 
poles to relay radio signals (using 900MHz spread-spectrum technology) 
from battery-powered modems. The modems send and receive data at 
speeds up to 28.8Kbps and cost $299, or rent for $10 per month. 
Metricom; 888.466.9473; www.metricom.com 



Gather ’round the table 

U.S. Robotics’ Conference Link CS1000 speakerphone features 
three microphones built into a propeller-shaped enclosure to offer 
360 degrees of coverage— excellent for use in any size room. Its 
full-duplex operation allows you to speak and listen to the other 
party at the same time, eliminating a major annoyance associated 
with typical speakerphones. 

The three mics can be individually muted for private 
conversations, and you can plug in additional mics 
for very large meetings. You can also tap a cas- 
sette recorder into the Conference Link to 
record conversations. An adapter is avail- 
able for using the device with digital 
phone lines and PBXs. 



The CS1000 is priced at 
$399.95. 

U.S. Robotics; 

847.676.7010; www.usr.com 



Hang it up 



Sony is preparing to ship the first TV you can hang on the wall. 
While notebook manufacturers trade bragging rights about the 
12-inch screens on their high-end models, Sony’s Plasmatron 
displays are as large as 50 inches. 

The Plasmatron features Plasma Addressed Liquid Crystal 
(PALC) technology developed in conjunction with U.S.-based 
Tektronix. The PALC display is an active matrix system that sep- 
arately addresses each pixel of the liquid crystal to produce 
sharp contrast and smooth display of moving images— a fea- 
ture sorely lacking in laptops. Unfortunately, the Plasmatron 
won’t be available in the United States until at least next year. 
Sony; 800.222.7669; www.sony.com 




34 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 



1 











PDA=Personal Drum Assistant 

Roland has taken the concept of the PDA and applied it to 
music. The $595 PMA-5 is a pen-based composition work- 
station you can hold in the palm of your hand. The device 
features an eight-track MIDI sequencer, a 16-part multitim- 
bral sound module with 306 sounds 16 drum kits, 600 
backing tracks in 100 styles, and onboard effects (including 
eight types of digital reverb and chorus). 

An ad-lib function lets you improvise solos or melodies 
over the backing tracks even if you don’t know anything 
about music. All functions are accessed through an LCD 
touch-panel screen, or you can use the serial port to 
import MIDI files from your PC. 

Roland Corp.; 213.685.5141; www.rolandus.com 



Next best thing to a T1 

Zenith’s Homeworks Universal cable modem delivers high-speed Internet access 
(up to a whopping 4Mbps) via your existing cable TV connection. The 
Homeworks Universal handles the high-speed downstream connection and links 
to your conventional modem or ISDN adapter for upstream data transfer. With an 
investment of less than 
$60,000 in Zenith and U.S. 

Robotics hardware, even 
cable operators with older, 
one-way delivery systems will 
be able to offer two-way 
Internet access. The 
Homeworks Universal costs 
$400 in volume quantities, so 
you’ll probably want to rent 
the device from your local 
cable operator. 

Zenith Electronics; 

847.391.8181; 
www.zenith.com 



Zip it to my Zaurus 

When even a notebook is too much to carry, Sharp’s 
$729 Zaurus ZR-5800FX PDA offers nearly as much 
functionality— including a 320x240 pixel touch 
screen, a fax/modem, a PC Card Type II slot, and an 
infrared transmitter for linking to a PC or printer. The 
backlit screen is easy to read even in low-light condi- 
tions, such as in a darkened car or airplane. The 
Zaurus features built-in e-mail software and an Excel- 
compatible spreadsheet; it can even function as a 
pager. Sharp recently announced a color Zaurus that 
sports a built-in digital camera, but they haven’t 
announced when the product will be available in the 
United States. 

Sharp Electronics; 800.237.4277; www.sharp-usa.com 



Let’s burn one 

Activate the motorized key- 
board elevator on Panasonic’s 
new CF-62 laptop ($7,199 for 
the 16MB model) and a PD 
rewritable optical drive slides 
out. The drive, which also 
reads CD-ROMs at 4x, can 
store 650MB of data on a PD 
disc. The computer’s design 
emphasizes removable storage 
media (the hard disk even 
comes with a heavily-padded leather carrying case) to lessen the risk 
of losing sensitive data in the event the computer is stolen. With a 
magnesium alloy lid, the CF-62 is built to last. It’s no slouch in terms 
of display, either. Its 12.1-inch active matrix LCD screen supports reso- 
lutions up to 1024x768. 

Panasonic Personal Computer Co.; 800.662.3537; www.panasonic.com 



It slices! It dices! 

Like a digital Veg-o-matic, Panasonic’s $799 
KX-PS600 combines a laser printer, scanner, 
and copier into a single device. The laser 
engine prints six pages per minute at 
600x600dpi, the monochrome scanner 
features 600dpi resolution and 64 
halftone levels, and the copier works 
even if your PC is not powered up. 

Just plug the KX-PS600 into your comput- 
er, install its software, and the device will 
automatically seek out and configure your 
fax, e-mail, and word processing software. 
Panasonic Communications 8i System Co.; 
800.742.8086; www.panasonic.com 



i 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 35 



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Good afternoon, 

JEAN-LOU1S GASSEE 

Others have attempted, but 
failed, to create a viable alter- 
native for the demanding tech 
junkies known as “geeks.” 

Your mission, should you choose 
to accept it, is to scrap all 
previous notions of what con- 
stitutes a PC and build the best 
system imaginable. Code name: 

BeBox. Can this flamboyant 
Frenchman succeed on his... 



I.- • 



I 






Or will his revolutionary computer 
self-destruct after its 15 
minutes of fame? 





BY DOUG LOMBARDI 




1996— Launched the BeBox 
1991— Founded Be Inc. 

1988-1990— President of Apple products, 
the R&D and manufacturing division 
1987-1988 — Apple's senior vice president 
of R&D 

1985-1987— Apple's vice president of 
product development 
1981-1985— Founded and ran Apple's I 
French operation, Apple Computer 
France SARL 

1979-1981— President and general manag 
er of the French subsidiary of Exxon 
Corp. (known as Office Systems) 
1974-79— Data General Corp.'s general 
manager for France, area manager 
for Latin countries! and marketing 
manager for Europe 
1968-1974 — Joined Hewlett-Packard. 

where he serving in several positions, 
including sales manager of Europe 
1 968— Paris/Orsay University; BS Math, 
Physics 

1944— Born in Paris, France 



“What is a true geek? I call them the path-breakers 
and the ball-breakers. [They’re] people who really 
explore the more innovative uses of computers and 
generously give us solid feedback.” 



and it will take them seven years to move 
from System 7 to System 8. It's not because 
they are inattentive or lazy; it’s because it’s 
very complicated. And, it limits the scope 
of what you can achieve in incorporating 
new technology. We are the only PC-level 
operating system with a multiprocessor, 
real-time, multithreading, multitasking 
database in the bowels of the operating sys- 
tem. We made a conscious decision to be 
in places where the other guys couldn’t be 
anytime soon. 

boot: So, liberating yourself from previous 
architectures frees you up to implement 
cutting edge technologies faster than the big 
boys. Do the benefits actually 
outweigh the limitations? 

Gass6e: The limitations are 
that we don’t have a mature 
company or a mature product. 

This is a newborn infant. We 
need to grow it, with the help 
of software developers, to give it applica- 
tions and more solidity. So we have a lot 
to accomplish. 

The good news is our demonstration. We 
got a standing ovation the first time we 
showed our product publicly because people 
could not believe that two tiny 603s at 
66MHz, which are the lowest level of 
PowerPCs, could exhibit such performance. 
The hardware is normal. It’s the software 
that really shines in those demonstrations. 
The agility, the throughput, the user inter- 
face, the modularity, and the features are 
the good news. Among the software devel- 
opers, many say that it’s the most fun, easi- 
est to program environment that they’ve 
seen in decades. 

boot: You’ve described the BeBox’s target 
audience as “true geeks.” Isn't that kind 
of harsh? 

Gass6e: What is a true geek? I call them 
the path-breakers and the ball-breakers. 
[They're] people who really explore the more 
innovative uses of computers and generous- 
ly give us solid feedback. 

To buy the BeBox you need to answer four 
questions. One: Do you own or operate 
two PCs a day? Two: Do you use or love 
C++? I’m told using it and loving it is 
impossible. Three: Do you have an Inter- 
net connection? And four: Do you have 
$2,000 on your credit card? Seriously, the 
reason I ask people to have two PCs or 
more is the lack of applications on the 
BeBox — it’s intolerable if you don’t already 
have PCs or cannot program. And if you are 
not on the Internet, I doubt that we have 



the same goals, and we won't be able to 
deliver software. 

If you ask the people in the mainstream 
what they want from a computer, they will 
describe the future in terms derived from 
the present. They want more for less. 
Smaller, cheaper, faster. Which is legiti- 
mate. But we need to innovate, and we need 
the geeks to take us to where the tractor 
applications lie. 

boot: You mention the tractor app, or the 
“killer app,” as it is frequently referred to. 
Any idea what the BeBox's will be? 

Gass6e: My guess is that it’s in one of five 
areas: Web servers, image processing, digi- 



tal audio, digital video, and software devel- 
opment. Let’s say that you’d like to develop 
for one of the emerging game platforms. If 
we put together a package with an inexpen- 



sive, very high-speed machine compiling 
code and graphics for the game platforms, 
this could be a nice application. Sun was 
started as a development environment 
before it became what we know it to be 
today. Image processing... all the world of 
digital photography is creating opportunities 
to do big manipulations on a grand scale. 
Digital audio, the egg hiding behind the “V” 
in “DVD.” You’ll be able to have real multi- 
track sound, not tarted up stereo. You know, 
today’s home theater has tarted up old 
stereo from the late '50s. 

[The tractor app is] one or more of these 
five. It’s not in the word processing and 

spreadsheet market, that's for 
sure. Even if we had the killer 
word processor, I doubt we 
could do anything. But no, I 
know people who are develop- 
ing a word processor for the 
BeBox because they do that. 
And they’ll sell it. But it's not going to be 
the innovation that we need, 
boot: What’s the relationship between the 
BeBox and the Amiga? 



38 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 



THE BOOT 
INTERVIEW 



Gassee: I had several contacts with the 
Amiga and Commodore in my past. When 
the Amiga came out in 1986, I was at 
Apple, and we were shaking in our boots 
because we saw a computer with a real mul- 
titasking operating system with a 68020 
and hardware assists for animation and 
music and video. We thought, "Boy this is a 

“If you can write a business plan, y 

real threat to us.” The Amiga sold a lot of 
machines, and the Mac sold even more. 
Commodore, in some ways, killed the 
Amiga. But there was a healthy develop- 
ment and user community. Some people 
wanted to buy the company in 1988 or 1989. 
They needed a CEO and they came to see 
me. In 1990 when I left Apple, Irving 
Gould, head of Commodore, wanted me to 
come and run the R&D at Commodore, 
which I declined. But this was another 
opportunity for me to think about what the 
Amiga brought in terms of digital media. 
Suddenly we can acknowledge that we are, 
in more than one way, spiritual descendants 
of the Amiga. In my office, I even have a 
license plate that says “Amiga 96,” which is 
a good seven character summary of our 
business plan. So we'd like to pick up where 
the Amiga left off. 

boot Aside from actually having a floppy 
drive and not being tightly targeted at the 
education market, how does the BeBox dif- 





Gass§e rules the roost at Be’s Menlo Park, Calif, offices. 

of the obstacles that they’d have to jump 
through today. 

boot: With all these influences, what is the 
BeBox? More Mac, more PC-done, or the 
next generation Amiga? 

Gass6e: We are on the PowerPC chip, so 
there is a hardware connection to the Apple 
world. The bus and all the hardware devices 
are from the PC-clone organ bank. The digi- 
tal media indination of the machine is more 
with the Amiga world. So you can make with 
it what you will. I don’t know what to make of it 
boot: So you are not competing against the 
Windows-based dones? 



Gassee: Competing against Microsoft or 
Apple would be a losing proposition, 
boot: As a former big wheel at Apple Com- 
puter, you have your opinions about the 
company's current situation. Can it survive? 
Gass6e: [laughs] If I knew how to take care 
of Apple’s problems I would not be doing 
what I do. I’d be selling advice. So, I’m not 
| i y) a consultant. But I wish the best to 
1 *** my old friends at Apple. This is a 

nice company that needs to regain some of 
its past vibrancy, 
boot: Would you ever go back? 

Gassee: No. 

boot: Apple wants $5 million for the 
QuickTime license. Will you pay $5 million 
for it? 

Gass6e: I was confused. I thought they were 
going to give me $5 million to promote 
QuickTime. So I protested that I would not 
abuse their generosity. But I found out I 
was mistaken. They wanted $5 million of 
our money. We spent $10 million to develop 
the hardware and the software. We can do a 
QuickTime player without the licensing 
stuff. MPEG is it in many respects. So, we 
will focus on that. ►Al 



BeBox Main Processor Board 

The processor board is a six-layer printed circuit board (PCB) with components mounted 
only on the top surface. Integrated circuits and passives are surface-mounted, connectors 
are through-hole. The processors are soldered directly to the processor board. 



Be 



specs 



fer from the NeXT cube? 

Gassee: That’s another very useful reference 
point because it taught us a number of 
things that we shouldn’t do. You mention 
the education market. If the price wasn’t so 
high, maybe the education market wouldn't 
be so bad. But the education market is not 
known to be solvent. There were a number 
of problems with the NeXT hardware — not 
to say that our product will not experience 
glitches and bugs; it will. But perhaps more 
damaging was the attitude toward the devel- 
opers. Developers had to shell out a few 
thousand dollars. They had to write a busi- 
ness plan to be granted the honor of devel- 
oping for the NeXT platform. Our develop- 
ers get a price cut on the machine — the 
machine is less than $1,000. And, we don’t 
ask them to write a business plan. If you 
can write a business plan, you probably 
can’t write good code, and we are interested 
in people who can write good code. The last 
dimension is electronic distribution of soft- 
ware over the Web. Cutting all of the mid- 
dlemen makes it possible for a one- or two- 
person company to make money without all 



Qty. Component 



Connector 



PowerPC 603 RISC processors at 66MHz 

8 72-bit DRAM SIMM Sockets 72-pin 

1 8-bit flash ROM 

3 32-bit PCI slots at 33MHz 32-bit PCI 

5 16-bit ISA slots 16-bit ISA 

1 Real-time clock with 

battery-backed-up NVRAM 

1 Internal SCSI port 50-pin ribbon 

1 External SCSI port 50-pin SCSI II 

1 Parallel port 25-pin D-shell 

1 Internal ATA (IDE) port 40-pin ribbon 

1 Keyboard port, PC/AT-type 5-pin DIN 

1 Internal floppy port 34-pin ribbon 

1 Speaker port 2-pin 

1 Front panel connector.... 26-pin ribbon 

1 Power LED JgggS 

1 Disk-activity LED — — 

1 Interrupt switch 

1 Reset switch 

1 Bar-graph LED driver _ .. 



BeBox I/O Board ^ 


Qty. Component 


Connector 


l 


“GeekPort” 




4 


Advanced serial ports 




1 


Mouse port, PS/2-type 




2 


Joystick ports 




2 


MIDI out ports 




2 


MIDI in ports 




3 


Infrared (IR) I/O ports 


6-pin mini DIN 


1 


Internal CD audio line-level input 




1 


Internal microphone audio input 




1 


Internal headphone audio output 




2 


Line-level input (L/R) 




2 


Line-level output (L/R) 


RCA jacks 


1 


Microphone input stereo phono jack .. 


3.5 mm 


1 


Headphone output stereo phono jack. 


3.5 mm 



1 16-bit stereo sound system @ 48 and 44.1KHz 






ntroducing... 



COREL 



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THE BOOT 
INTERVIEW 




In the course of bringing together the “ultimate” personal computer, Gassee 
has drawn from his vast experience at Apple, his respect for the Amiga, and 
the vast PC organ bank. 

◄ 39 boot: You’ve projected the BeBox will 
sell 100,000 units in the first year. It would 
seem that, in order to survive, it must sell 
more than that. Otherwise software develop- 
ers won't consider it a viable platform and 
won’t want to write for it How long before 
it reaches viability? 

Gass6e: I am not going to make any fore- 
casts. There’s no way we can reach those 
numbers in ’97. Many of the software devel- 
opers do not expect it to happen because 
we’ve been very open about the numeric 
prospects. If you are a Be software develop- 
er, you don’t have to abide by the current 



ating system, it’s horri- 
ble. It's sluggish. We 
started with a fairly 
modest hardware plat- 
form because it’s easy 
to make software that 
runs at moderate speeds 
on very expensive hard- 
ware. The real art is to 
make software that runs 
as fast as ours does on 
low-priced hardware. 
That’s what we’ve tried 
to do. And now we are 
ready to climb the 
processor scale, 
boot: So we’ll see higher 
megahertz processors in the BeBox this 
summer? How fast? 200? 

Gassee: You know the engineers never tell 
me anything. I’m just the figurehead here, 
boot: We've seen other systems with parallel 
processors, why should we be excited about 
the BeBox? Or, in your words, "What makes 
the nipples hard?’ 

Gass6e: Yes, yes, yes... the price. Sixteen 
hundred dollars for a MP [multiprocessor] 
machine is not what you see in other sys- 
tems. And you have fresh software. A lot of 
the MP software is either a custom-made 
server — and we’re not going to compete 



“We’re interested in little guys who want to kill the big guys...” 



business models. It’s extortion in the soft- 
ware business today. Distributing your soft- 
ware off the Net — protected if you like — you 
can advertise your software on the Net, you 
can ship on the Net, you can collect money 
on the Net. And you can ship in small vol- 
umes and be profitable. We’re interested in 
little guys who want to kill the big guys, just 
as we are the little guys. If you are a 
Windows software development house 
today, you probably have no idea how to 
make money using your existing business 
model on the BeBox. 

Your question is legitimate. And to that the 
answer is, it’s a different business model 
that does not require the same critical mass, 
boot: Inside the BeBox are two PowerPC 
603 CPUs, running at 66MHz. Why 
66MHz? Was that a price consideration? 

Or do you believe two medium speed 
processors can outrun one high speed 
(200MHz) processor? 

Gassee: It’s the software that counts. And 
we observed that software never goes down 
in terms of other platforms, it only goes up. 
If you try to make a light version of an oper- 



there — or it’s hacked up old software. We 
provide fresh MP software from the ground 
up. Hence, the people’s reaction at the 
demonstration. It’s performance in terms of 
throughput per hardware dollar. And it’s 
performance in terms of the simplicity of 
programming it. So it’s performance for the 
user, performance for the programmer, 
boot The Box has three PCI slots and five 
ISA slots. Why not something more exotic, 
such as the Panda Project’s Compass pas- 
sive backplane? 

Gass6e: I’ve seen lots of interesting hard- 
ware designs. But the only adventure we 
want is in software. We had to take one risk, 
and let the rest be totally fed by the ecologi- 
cal niche of the PC world. Basically we feed 
off that. If something like USB, or as USB 
becomes product, you’ll see us adopt USB. 
But we don’t want to take leadership in 
hardware standards. There's only one kind 
of risk we can take: system software, 
boot: Why are there three infrared con- 
troller ports? 

Gass6e: You want to be able to control your 
appliances. The FCC is not regulating ► 120 




Re 

^'-'operating 
system overview 



Fast Microkernel 

• Virtual memory 

• Pre-emptive multitasking (multithreading) on 
multiple processors (up to 8 PowerPC CPUs in 
future BeBox models) 

• Automatic allocation of threads to processors for 
the most efficient execution 

• Protected address spaces 

• Shared memory areas for efficient interapplication 
cooperation 

• Loadable device drivers 



Real-Time Architecture for Processing Audio 
and Video Data 

• Transportation of media buffers through a 
pipeline of interested handlers 

• High-level, object-oriented access to audio and 
video drivers 

• Synchronization of internal clock and external 
clocks (such as MIDI or SMPTE) 

• Prioritization to protect time-critical tasks 

• MIDI support 

Graphical Interactive User Interface 

• Ready-made windows provided by the 
application server 

• Window-specific graphics environments 

• A graphical browser for operating the machine 
and viewing the file system and database 

• Off-the-shelf modules for components (such as 
buttons, scroll bars, and editable text fields) 



Networking 

• TCP/IP built in 

• Direct and dial-up PPP 

• FTP and TELNET protocols 
(ftp, ftpd, and telnet tools) 



Object-Oriented C++ Application Framework 

• User Interface Kit, Multimedia Kit, MIDI Kit, 
Networking Kit, Database Kit. and others for 
developing a wide variety of applications 

• Interapplication messaging 

• Architecture designed for multithreading 
(every window has its own thread of execution) 

Development Environment 

• Bundled Metrowerks(R) CodeWarrior(TM) 
development environment for the BeBox 

• Libraries, header files, and developer 
documentation provided with every BeBox + 
Dynamically linked (“shared”) libraries 




boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 41 





WASTERS,. 3D 

Feature creatures from Compaq, IBM, and NEC 

BY MICHAEL BROWN 



You're a power user. You demand more. You crave speed, 
detailed graphics, rich color, thundering sound, compelling real- 
ism— you want it all. Not even Intel’s 200MHz Pentium by itself 
is enough to slake your thirst. 

Fortunately, you’ve been recognized. Compaq, IBM, and NEC 
know what you want, and they’re preparing to battle it out to win 
your favor. Each company wants to convince you that they have 
the “ultimate” multimedia system — and each is starting out with a 
200MHz Pentium, 32MB of RAM, and 3D graphics acceleration. 
IBM is already shipping its new Aptiva model C77, which features 
ATI’s 3D Rage chip, and boot has a complete hands-on review. 



IBM APTIVA C77 



You’ve heard the saying “beauty 
is only skin deep, but ugliness 
penetrates to the bone.” If you 
think the Aptiva C 77 looks ugly 
on the outside, wait ’til you crack 
the case. The beige steel box with 
its goofy handle hides a set of cir- 
cuit boards that would have 
Quasimodo’s mother tossing her 
cookies. 

The Aptiva’s biggest claim to 
fame-and its best feature— is its 
ATI 3D Rage video chip. The chip 
is on the motherboard (boo!), but 
it can be shut off when you 
upgrade (yea!). Unlike the first 
generation of 3D graphics acceler- 
ator chips, the Rage delivers 
excellent 2D acceleration as well— 
an important consideration when 
you’re playing games, surfing the 
Net, or using other software that’s 
been optimized for 3D hardware 
accelerators. The chip offers a 



maximum resolution of 1280x1024 
with 8-bit color, and a maximum 
color depth of 32 bits with 
640x480 resolution. 

IBM bundles optimized ver- 
sions of MechWarrior 2 and VR 
Soccer with the machine. 

Although the 3D Rage version of 
Mech 2 looks spectacular, with 
richly textured surfaces and 
clouds that scoot across the sky, 
both games are relatively old; if 
you like these games, you proba- 
bly already own the non-accelerat- 
ed versions. Once the 3D Rage 
has been on the market for a 
while, developers will design 
games optimized for it. Only then 
will we see what the chip is truly 
capable of. 

As it is, the Aptiva scored an 
impressive 23.4 million pixels per 
second on Ziff-Davis’s Graphics 
WinMark 96 (at 800x600 resolu- 



Just one 3D accelerator wasn’t enough for Compaq and NEC; 
each new system (shipping this fall) offers two different video 
chipsets. We've put each prototype system through its paces in the 
bootLab, and we have exclusive hands-on previews of both. 

Following an industry trend, all three manufacturers have inte- 
grated some video circuitry into these machines’ motherboards. 
While purists might cringe at this, the 3D video chipsets IBM, 
Compaq, and NEC have selected are the best available today. 

When new, more powerful chips become available, you'll be able 
to override the original hardware. 

Yes, it’s a good time to be a power user. 




This is MechWarrior 2 running on a 
conventional graphics card. Note the 
banding in the color palette and the 
absence of texture details. 

tion and 16-bit color depth). The 
system pumped out a stunning 
72fps playing Duke Nukem 3D at 
320x200 resolution, 32fps at 
640x480, and 16fps at 800x600. 

But back to the ugly case: The 
huge handle does serve a pur- 
pose: Remove two screws, grab 
the handle, and you can slide the 
heavy steel case off the chassis 
from the front without having to 
pull any cables from the back. 
Cool! (There’s also a recessed 
handle on the back of the chassis, 
which makes it easy to pick up.) 
Inside, you’ll discover an IBM 
motherboard with a riser board 
containing six ISA slots but only 
two PCI slots— and one is shared 
with an ISA slot. Having only two 




This version of MechWarrior 2 was opti- 
mized for the ATI 3D Rage chip installed 
in IBM’s Aptiva C77. Note the smooth 
texture maps and enhanced detail. 

PCI slots is bad enough, but 
who’s the wizard who decided to 
put the riser board’s power-supply 
connector right between them? 

The machine is equipped with 
32MB of EDO DRAM in four 8MB 
SIMMs. But there’s also a vacant 
DIMM slot, so you can add RAM 
without throwing away any exist- 
ing SIMMs. 

Adding a card to the bus 
requires snaking it through a 
criss-crossing jungle of cables. 
There’s plenty of room inside the 
case for full-size boards, but IBM 
decided not to install brackets at 
the far end of the case to support 
their weight. If you need more 
storage than is provided by the 
3.2GB EIDE hard drive, you’ll find 




NEC Power Player 2001 Compaq Presario 8710 IBM Apliva C77 




The Aptiva C77’s expansion slots are obscured by a tangle of cables, including a 
power cable that plugs in directly between the two PCI slots. 




two open 3.5-inch drive bays 
(only one is accessible from the 
front) and one front-accessible 
5.25-inch bay. You’ll find a USB 
port on the backplane, (although 
there are not yet any USB devices 
on the market). 

The Hitachi CDR-7930 8x CD- 
ROM drive delivered an accept- 
able CD-ROM WinMark score of 
725KB/sec, but it doesn’t have a 
headphone output, so you’ll have 
to listen to audio CDs through 
IBM’s mWave-powered Dolphin 
sound/telephony card. Trust me, 
you’ll quickly be in the market for 
a new sound card. In most 
games, the Dolphin emulates an 
FM-synth Sound Blaster (as 
opposed to a wavetable-synth 
Sound Blaster). The card’s digital 
audio capabilities are also weak. 
That’s a shame, because the 
powered speakers bundled with 
this system kick. 



The Aptiva has some perfor- 
mance features, and it’s avail- 
able now. That’s the good news. 
But its expansion bus design is 
a chamber of horrors, and its 
sound card is a joke. Plus, its 
$3,499 list price is $200 higher 
than Compaq’s projected price 
for the Presario 8710 (which will 
have two 3D accelerators and far 
superior sound), and the IBM's 
price matches NEC’s 200 MHz 
PowerPlayer, which will also 
offer two 3D accelerators— the 
ATI 3DRage and the 3Dfx 
Voodoo chipset. With this com- 
petition— and with Sony poised 
to jump into the market with its 
own 3D-accelerated machine— 
IBM needs to produce something 
exotic to rise above the fray. 



Price 


$3,499 


$3,299 


$3,499 


Core Logic 


Intel Triton VX 


Intel Triton VX 


Intel Triton VX 


External Cache 


256k pipeline 
burst 


512k pipeline 
burst 


256k pipeline 
burst 


System Memory 


32MB to 128MB 
EDO DRAM 


32MB to 128MB 
EDO DRAM 


32MB to 128MB 
EDO DRAM 


Expansion bus 


3 ISA / 3 PCI 
(1 shared ISA/PCI 
shared, 1 PCI slot 
occupied) 


3 ISA / 3 PCI 
(1 shared ISA/PCI) 
(Modem occupies 
proprietary feature 
slot) 


6 ISA / 2 PCI 


Hard drive 


3.2GB EIDE 


2.5GB EIDE 


3.2GB EIDE 


CD-ROM drive 


NEC MultiSpin 6x4 
changer 


8x (from various 
suppliers) 


8x Hitachi CDR- 
7930 


Video chipset 


ATI 3D Rage with 
2MB EDO DRAM 
•1280x1024 / 8-bit 

3Dfx Voodoo with 
4MB EDO DRAM- 
•1024x768 / 16-bit 
•800x600 / 24-bit 
•640x480 / 32-bit 


S3 VIRGE with 2MB 
EDO DRAM 
•1280x1024 / 8-bit 

NEC PowerVR with 
4MB EDO DRAM- 
•1024x768 / 16-bit 
•800x600 / 24-bit 


ATI 3D Rage with 
2MB EDO DRAM 
•1280x1024 / 8-bit 
•1024x768 / 16-bit 
•800x600 / 24-bit 
•640x480 / 32-bit 


Data path 


64-bit 


64-bit 


64-bit 


Synth 


Yamaha 0PL4 
FM/Wavetable (on 
motherboard) 


AMD InterWave 
(1MB sounds in 
ROM, plus 512k 
sample RAM, 
expandable to 
5.5MB sample RAM) 


IBM mWave DSP 
chip on telephony 
card 


Speakers 


Advent AV370 
(20 watts/channel 
plus 30-watt sub- 
woofer) 


JBL Pro Premium 
(10 watts/channel 
plus 20-watt sub- 
woofer) 


IBM Aptiva Model 
20 


Communications 


33.6 DSVD 
fax/modem full- 
duplex speaker- 
phone 


33.6 DSVD 
fax/modem full- 
duplex speaker- 
phone 


28.8 DSVD 
fax/modem full- 
duplex speaker- 
phone 


Peripherals 


Thrustmaster Mark III 
Flight Control stick 
Advanced Gravis 
Multiport w/2 GrIP 
gamepads 


ThrustMaster 

gamepad 





Software Bundles 



NEC: Battle Arena Toshinden for 3Dfx Voodoo, Descent II for 3Dfx Voodoo, 
EF2000 for 3Dfx Voodoo, MechWarrior 2 for 3D Rage, Microsoft Works, Money, 
Bookshelf, VR Soccer for 3Dfx Voodoo, WarCraft II, Whiplash for 3Dfx Voodoo, 
Wipeout for 3D Rage 

Compaq: Cakewalk Express, CorelDraw 5, Flight Unlimited for PowerVR, Magic 
Carpet, MechWarrior 2 for PowerVR, Microsoft Works, PGA Tour 96, Quicken SE, 
Studio M 

IBM: Battle Beast, Caesar II, Lotus Smart Suite 96, MechWarrior 2 for 3D Rage, 
Microsoft Encarta, Microsoft Works, Quicken Multimedia SE, Rand McNally 
Tripmaker 1996, Torin's Passage, VR Soccer for 3D Rage, Wall Street Money, 
and more 





El X ok Lp-S I V E HAN D S - - Q-N— - R-R-EI-V*< EL W ' 



COMPAQ PRESARIO 871 0 



Compaq is destined to win a few 
industrial-design awards for 
Presario 8710’s elegant case. But 
this box delivers plenty of func- 
tion with its form, including a set 
of controls for the CD-ROM drive 
and speakerphone/answering 
machine conveniently mounted on 
top of the front bezel: You can 
operate these components with- 
out ever touching the mouse or 
keyboard. But the 8710 is more 
than pretty. Powered by a 
200MHz Pentium, 512k of 
pipeline-burst cache, an Intel 
Triton VX core logic, 32MB of 
EDO DRAM, and two 3D graphics 
accelerators sharing 6MB of 
dedicated video memory, this 
promises to be one kick-ass 
multimedia machine. 

The 8710 will use S3’s ViRGE 
chip for both 2D and 3D graphics 
acceleration, but Compaq is more 
excited about the PowerVR chip 
produced by the partnership of 
NEC Electronics and VideoLogic. 
Compaq’s early production runs 
will have the PowerVR on an add- 



The expansion bus for the Presario 8710 is contained in this pull-out card cage. 
Removing the cage exposes all the major components on the motherboard. 



beta version of Mech Warrior 2 for 
PowerVR looks spectacular, but 
it’s too early to compare it to its 
3D Rage cousin. 

Putting a PC’s expansion bus 
on a riser card is a common prac- 
but the 8710’s Compaq- 
jned motherboard will offer a 
lie twist: The riser card will 
be housed in a massive 
aluminum cage, which can 
be accessed by removing 
the machine’s steel side 
panel. To add or remove a 
card, yank the cage out of 
the case and roll it over on 
its back. This design ren- 
ders all the components 
eminently accessible. 

The 8710 will offer three 
full-length ISA slots and 
three full-length PCI slots. 
One PCI slot will be occu- 
pied by the PowerVR card, 
one ISA slot will be occu- 
pied by the sound card, 
and one of each type will 
be shared. A 33.6Kbps 
DSVD fax/modem will func- 
tion in a proprietary feature 
slot. Compaq is contracting 
with STB systems for the 
machine’s sound card, 



MechWarrior 2 running on a conven- 
tional, 2D graphics accelerator. Note 
the banded skyline and lack of detail. 



MechWarrior 2 optimized for the 
Presario 8710’s PowerVR 3D graphics 
accelerator. Note the dithered skyline 
and the detailed texture mapping used 
to display terrain elevation. 

which will feature an AMD 
InterWave wavetable synthesizer 
with 1MB of samples in ROM. The 
card will have 512k of DRAM for 
custom patches plus sockets for 
an additional 5MB of DRAM. 

Two USB ports are mounted on 
the backplane. 

Compaq commissioned JBL to 
design and manufacture an awe- 
some three-piece speaker system. 
The satellites deliver 10 watts per 
channel through 3.5-inch woofers 
and 10mm tweeters. The sub- 
woofer houses a separate 20-watt 
amp and pumps bass through a 
5.25-inch-long-throw driver. 
Compaq will also bundle Thrust- 
Master’s new Advanced Gamepad 
with the 8710. The Playstation- 
inspired gamepad will have a 
throttle wheel, an autofire switch, 
and 12 buttons, including two 
analog triggers. Each button can 
be mapped to any keyboard or 
game-port signal, and custom 
configurations can be stored in 
nonvolatile memory within the 
gamepad’s controller. 

Priced at $3,299, the Presario 
8710 is an enticing package. Look 
for a complete hands-on review in 
our next issue. 



ture-map memory— will eventually 
be sucked onto the motherboard. 
(The ViRGE is already on the 
motherboard, where it shares a 
2MB EDO DRAM framebuffer with 
the PowerVR.) The bundled pre- 



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NEC is taking a relatively conserv- 
ative tack with the design of the 
PowerPlayer’s case. The machine 
will be housed in a minitower 
with two front-accessible 5.25- 
inch drive bays and one internal 
3.5-inch bay. In addition to offer- 
ing a powerhouse 200MHz CPU 
and dual 3D graphics accelerators, 
NEC’s answer to power users’ 
dreams bundles a boatload of 
peripherals, including an NEC 
MultiSpin 6x4, six-speed/four disc, 
CD-ROM changer. 

Like Compaq, NEC is squeez- 
ing not one, but two, 3D graphics 
accelerators into its newest multi- 
media wunderbox. Curiously, NEC 
Technologies has decided to use 
the Voodoo chipset from 3Dfx, 
instead of the PowerVR chip that 
is being produced by its sister 
company, NEC Electronics. Does 
NEC know something that 
Compaq doesn’t? 

“We wanted the best 3D 
accelerator solutions on the mar- 
ket," says Bret Kennedy, NEC 
Technologies’ consumer PC prod- 
uct manager. “The 3Dfx Voodoo is 
number one, ATI’s 3D Rage is 
number two, and the PowerVR is 
number three or four." Rest 
assured, we’ll have both machines 



in the bootLab for a head-to-head 
comparison as soon as they ship. 

The BCM FM-567 motherboard 
will feature a 200MHz Pentium, 
256k of pipeline-burst cache, an 
Intel Triton VX core-logic chipset, 
32MB of EDO DRAM, a 33.6Kbps 
DSVD fax/modem, and ATI’s 3D 
Rage chip with 2MB of EDO DRAM 
video memory. The 3Dfx Voodoo 
chipset will be mounted on a PCI 
card with an additional 4MB of 
EDO DRAM. The PowerPlayer’s 
expansion bus— three full-length 
PCI, three full-length ISA, one of 
each shared— will be mounted on 
a riser card. Unlike most riser-card 
designs, NEC’s will have the 
expansion cards standing vertical- 
ly instead of lying horizontally. A 
front-mounted fan will blow air 
right down the middle of the bus. 

NEC will bundle a number of 
games, including several that 
have been optimized either for 
the 3D Rage (MechWarrior 2 and 
Wipeout) or the 3Dfx Voodoo 
(Battle Arena Toshinden , VR 
Soccer, Descent II, Whiplash, and 
EF2000). The most impressive 
demo, however, is a version of 
Eidos’ upcoming Tomb Raider 
action game, which is optimized 
for the Voodoo chipset. Once 



again, games coded from the 
ground up to take advantage of 
this hardware will look and play 
much better than games originally 
developed for lesser systems. 

In addition to the generous 
software bundle, NEC will bundle 
an Advanced Gravis MultiPort with 
two GrIP gamepads, a 
ThrustMaster Mark III Flight 
Control system, and Advent’s 
excellent AV370 50-watt, three- 
piece speaker system. 

Unfortunately, it looks as 
though NEC is 
sticking with 
Yamaha’s weak 
FM/wave-table 
hybrid OPL4 
synth chip— cer- 
tainly not state- 
of-the-art technol- 
ogy. Two USB 
ports, will be 
mounted on the 
backplane. 

At $3,499, the 
PowerPlayer 2001 
matches the price 
of the IBM Aptiva 
C 77, but you’ll be 
getting two pow- 
erful 3D graphics 
machine’s accelerators 

instead of one. 



This top-down view inside the NEC PowerPlayer 2001 reveals the accessibility of the 
expansion slots. The motherboard is mounted vertically in the case. 



Tomb Raider running on a conventional 
graphics card doesn’t look nearly as 
compelling as... 



Tomb Raider optimized for the 3Dfx 
Voodoo chipset in NEC’s new 
PowerPlayer 2001. 



Contac t Information 

COMPAQ COMPUTER 

800.345.1518 

WWW.COMPAQ.COM/WW/US/ 

iBrt/! 

800.426.7235 X4340 
WWW.PC.IBM.COM/APTIVA 

NEC TECHNOLOGIES 

800.632.4636 

WWW.NEC.COM 



NEC POWERPLAYER 2001 



x 







Pick your 3D chess set. 

The Chessmaster* has ten new ones 
and 13 classics. 



More than 20 tutorial modules, from 
beginner to advanced, help you 
improve your game. 



Battle real-life experts or, 
if you choose, edit their playing 
style just for fun. 



A 27,000 game database lets you relive, 
replay or revise every move of famous 
matches like Fischer vs. Spassky. 



OF ALL TIME CAN 



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F or over ten years, Chessmaster has 
reigned as the leader with the right 
moves. And now, he’s got even more. 

For experts, the big challenge is 
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3 

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2 

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■*-> 

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M I N D S C A P E® 



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Microsoft* 



Wm*W95 







Powered by a generation 
of faster processors 
and fancy graphics 
accelerators, the new 
breed of flight sims 
delivers. Developers are 
pushing the envelope 
of flight sims way beyond 
the limits of today’s 
hottest titles. The sims 
of tomorrow will look 
better, run faster, and 
deliver unheard-of realism. 





48 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 






"M magine an environment so convincing that you might 

■ forget for a moment that you’re sitting at your computer 

■ — and not rocketing through the air, locked in a life-or- 
JL death struggle with nothing less than the fate of the free 

world in your hands. 

The most important developments coming up in flight sims will 
create that illusion by focusing on three areas: rendered terrain 
graphics running through 3D graphic accelerator boards, realistic 
simulation of combat and flight, and multiplayer capability, be it 
over a LAN or a modem. 



TIME TO CATCH AIR 

Though five years old, Falcon 3.0 remains 
the benchmark for many virtual pilots. With 
its emphasis on realism and multiplayer 
combat, Falcon 3.0 pointed the way toward 
the future of flight sims. 

With the scheduled winter arrival of 
Falcon 4.0, MicroProse (the company for- 
merly known as Spectrum HoloByte/ 
MicroProse) promises an unprecedented 
level of realism in graphics and gameplay — 
plus a real-time war raging on the ground 
below you. 

Surprisingly, MicroProse has elected to 
accelerate Falcon 4.0’s graphics via Intel’s 
3DR API and not Microsoft’s Direct3D. 
Although it has been rumored that Intel 
may recall or at least withdraw support for 



3DR in an effort to maintain friendly rela- 
tions with Microsoft, Falcon 4. 0 f s designers 
are flying with the existing 3 DR and not 
waiting for Microsoft to release Direct3D. 

"The choice was made on what was 
available,” says Scott Randolph, senior 
graphics engineer at MicroProse. Randolph 
also said Microsoft’s Direct3D is a less 
effective API for accelerating the graphics 
of a modern day flight sim. “If we were 
starting a new title today, we still might 
not use it,” says Randolph. "Microsoft 
avoided some technical issues that compro- 
mise the performance and take away from 
the game.” 

In addition to flying over graphically 
accelerated terrain, Falcon 4.0 pilots will 
carry out their missions in the midst of a 




boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 49 




“As a pilot and a flight sim enthusiast, the next logical 
step is to develop more realism with the flight models.” 




realistic, constantly evolving battle on land, 
at sea, and in the air while using the 
Campaign Manager. Every bridge you blow 
up, base you take out, and ship you sink, 
will be registered by the game's A/I and 
will, in turn, affect the course of the war 
being waged. 

Falcon 4.0 will follow the Falcon tradi- 
tion of supporting network and modem 
play. Over a LAN, 16 players will be able to 
join and leave an ongoing campaign in real 
time. The game will also provide multiplay- 
er battles over the Total Entertainment 
Network. MicroProse is not going to limit 
the number of players Falcon 4.0 can sup- 
port on TEN. That will be dependent on 
each server’s performance capability. 

Another highly anticipated sequel 
preparing for takeoff this winter is Red 
Baron II, a World War I sim from Sierra. 
Gary Stottlemeyer, Red Baron J/’s director, 
was the lead designer on Falcon 3.0. In 



A much 
improved 
Comanche 3 is 
built on Nova 
Logic’s updated 
terrain render- 
ing technology, 
Voxel Space 2, 
which delivers 
3D graphic 
detail to ground 
and air targets 
regardless of 
their proximity. 



addition to exchanging designers, Sierra 
and MicroProse both have plans to release 
historical sims in the near future. With 
another currently-unnamed historical sim 
from Empire heading to the runway, you 
have an onslaught of nostalgic sims head- 
ing our way. 

Initially Red Baron II will not support 
any of the 3D APIs. An add-on pack is 
expected next year, however, to optimize 
the game for 3D acceleration and Internet 
multiplayer modes. Since Sierra has busi- 
ness agreements with the Imagination 



you suspend belief? That’s what we’re all 
going to compete on — realistic action, not 
on those cut scenes of an F-16 taking off 
into the sunset. 

“With the accelerator cards, everybody's 
going to have good graphics,” Stealey says. “It 
becomes an issue of having a realistic battle- 
field environment. There’s a whole war 
going on, not just one F-15 against the world.” 

Interactive Magic’s terrain-rendering sys- 
tem (which is currently nameless) will 
be the centerpiece for the company’s new 
line of modern air combat sims. 



“That’s what we’re all going to compete on — realistic action, 
not on those cut scenes of an F-i6 taking off into the sunset.” 



“The system is optimized for rendering 
terrain databases, using satellite photo- 
graphs mapped onto real satellite altimeter 
information,” said Doug Kubel, Interactive 
Magic’s vice president of engineering and 
technology. “You’ll have both real geometry 
and real texture.” 

To keep up the frame rate on slower 
machines, the system handles data at 
multiple resolutions. “It auto adjusts based 
on how far away you are from a piece of 
terrain,” Kubel said. “Terrain very close 
to you gets presented at a higher level of 
detail, while something on the horizon 
gets lower detail.” 

The finest resolution for which altimeter 
data is available has data points of 180 
meters. Interactive Magic is working on a 
technique to render terrain between those 
points to fill the gaps in data. Using this 
technique, a CD-ROM can hold about 
100,000 square miles of terrain. 

Just about every developer currently 
working on a flight sim is attempting to 
achieve the same level of detail via their 
own proprietary rendering systems. So 
when you’re flying and fighting in a new 
sim next year, take a good look at the world. 
It'll be about as real as it can get. 

The first title to use Interactive Magic’s 
new rendering system is F-22 Lightning, 
currently scheduled for release in the first 
quarter of 1997. F-22 is currently being 
written to support ATI and Nvidia’s propri- 
etary 3D APIs, but is expected to also sup- 
port Microsoft’s Direct3D when released 
this winter. In the meantime, Interactive 
Magic will be sending two sequels down the 
runway: Air Warrior 2 and Hind, the sequel 
to Apache. Hind and Apache owners will 
be able to face off over a LAN or serial con- 
nection. Those who pick up Air Warrior 2 



Network, you can expect its online debut 
to land in that arena. 

As for the actual gaming, Red Baron II 
will feature 22 planes and the Career Mode 
will draw on improved A/ 1. 



LOOK OUT BELOW 

Interactive Magic, makers of Apache and 
Air Warrior, is powering up a whole line of 
new sims that will be taking to the air, one 
by one, during the next six months. Bill 
Stealey, Interactive Magic’s chairman, said 
of his company’s new releases will sup- 
port Internet gaming, feature the most 
advanced graphics, and provide the most 
realistic play possible. 

“The trick is creating a realistic battle- 
field environment,” says Stealey. “How do 



50 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 



I 


The Hind flies in low 
and takes out an enemy 
weapons depot with 
spiral missiles. 






» ^ ' =* 


Players can test their 
skills manning the 
Russians’ dreaded Mi- 
24 E Hind Helicopter in 
head-to-head network 
play against its prede- 
cessor Apache. 




V 

- ap* 



will be able to engage in online battles via 
CompuServe and AOL. 

The most realistic combat arena available 
in a flight sim can be seen in Back to 
Baghdad, a new combat sim from Military 
Simulations. Thanks to satellite data made 
available after the Gulf War, Iraq has been 
transformed into a highly detailed computer 



f 

3D Accelerators 

T his looks to be the year when 3D graph- 
ics technology takes off in PC gaming— 
and lights up the afterburners of comput- 
er flight simulation. The first accelerator cards 
introduced early this year with chipsets from 
Nvidia, 3D Labs, and Matrox delivered 
enhanced graphics. But look for truly stunning 
results from the new add-in cards and systems 
with 3D on the motherboard using chips from 
ATI, Rendition, and 3Dfx. 

3D cards allow developers to use much 
more sophisticated techniques for modeling 
graphics, including texture mapping for realis- 
tic terrain, perspective correction for accurate 
object rendering, bilinear filtering to reduce 
aliasing, MIP Mapping to reduce blockiness, 
fogging to reproduce atmospheric conditions, 
and alpha-blending, a channel for graphic spe- 
cial effects. 







battleground. Baghdad 
takes you to the Iraqi capi- 
tal at a terrain resolution 
of 20 meters. Six other 
Iraqi cities are shown in 
slightly lower detail. 

“It's as realistic as we 
could possibly make it, 
without going to jail,” 
said George Keverian, 
vice president of 
Military Simulations. 

Military Simulations is 
a new company, but these 
guys aren’t new to flight 
sims. Most of them have 
military backgrounds and have built some 
sophisticated flight simulators, including 
one for Lockheed. In fact, U.S. Air Force 
cadets may soon be training on a custom 
version of Baghdad, u 
according to sources 
at Military 
Simulations. 

A multiplayer add-on for Baghdad will 
be released later this year, using technology 
previously limited to military sims. Using a 
DIS network and MAK technology, the 
company will be able to link networks, 
using tunneling technology to connect 
multiple LANs. 

Just fly a few sorties and Baghdad proves 
to be a breathtakingly realistic experience, 



Air 

with anti-aircraft fire lighting up the skies 
over a city in flames. 

One of the sexiest looking flight sims 
of all time is EF2000. Digital Image Design 
has stepped up with Super 
EF2000 for Win 95. To go 
along with the original's 
breathtaking graphics, the 
developers focused on improving the team- 
work aspect of combat missions in the new 
version. As the leader of a strike force of 
eight aircraft, for example, you can order 



Back to Baghdad's flight and combat models are so realistic the U.S. 
Force is licensing a version to train cadets. 



3D is going to enable us to 
do some fantastic things...” 



Bottom line: Get ready for richly detailed, finely 
textured, high-resolution graphics running at frame 
rates you’ve only dreamed about. 

With 3D accelerators, the 640x480 graphics 
that have become the standard in flight sims will 
give way to 1024x768 and beyond, with enough 
muscle left over to handle faster frame rates. 
Everyone wants photorealistic graphics, but no one 
wants to sit and watch a slide show in lieu of 
smooth flowing motion. 

“3D is going to enable us to do some fantastic 
things,” says Doug Kubel, Interactive Magic’s vice 
president of engineering and technology. “For 
example, we’ll be able to do 3D games in 16-bit 
color at higher resolutions. The industry just 
recently went to 640, and now we’ll be able to go 
to 1024 and 16-bit color. 

“Most of the 3D cards support filtered textur- 
ing, so we can get rid of some of the blockiness 
you see in textures now,” says Kubel. “Image qual- 
ity is going to go up radically. Performance quality 
is going to go up substantially.” 

As it currently stands, developers must produce 
a special version of their game for each hardware 



Accelerated on Intel’s 3DR API, Falcon 4.0's graph- 
ics make you want to kiss the sky. 

accelerator they decide to support. Looking 
Glass, for example, ported Flight Unlimited to 
Creative Labs’ 3D Blaster, and MicroProse is 
writing Falcon 4.0 to support cards that use 
Intel’s 3DR API. 

Unfortunately, a sim’s graphic acceleration 
is limited to its API. A rush of 3D-accelerated 
titles is expected when Microsoft finally releas- 
es its Direct3D standard for Windows 95, 
which exists now in beta form only. 

This technology “really does provide a 
whole new level of game playing,” said Brian 
Bruning at 3Dfx, maker of the graphics chip at 
the heart of Orchid’s new 3D accelerator, 
Fahrenheit Video 3D. “The concentration is on 
real-time action games: fighting, flying, and 
driving,” he said. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 51 




Online Aces 



W hen it comes to flying over the Internet, 
there are two titles that lead the pack: 
ICI’s Warbirds (see a demo on the 
bootDisc ), and Interactive Magic’s Air Warrior. 
More flight sims will soon be entering the 
Internet battle scene as the dedicated gaming 
services reduce the latency issues that have 
shackled online gaming in years past. Here’s a 
look at some of the services that currently offer 
or will be offering multiplayer action to flight 
sim enthusiasts in the coming months. 

DEDICATED GAMING SERVICES: 

Service: ICI Games 

URL: www.icigames.com 

Cost: $10 for monthly dues and first five hours, 

$2 for each additional hour 

Service: ImagiNation Network 
URL: inngames.com 

Cost: $9.95 for monthly dues and first five 
hours, $1.95 to $2.95 for each additional hour 
depending on subscription package 

Service: Dwango 
URL: www.dwango.com 
Cost: $7.95 for monthly dues and first five 
hours, $2 per additional hour, $1.55 per addi- 
tional hour for a 40+ hour block 

Service: Total Entertainment Network 

URL: www.ten.net 

Cost: TBD (still in beta form) 

Service: Mpath 
URL: www.mpath.com 
Cost: TBD (still in beta form) 

OTHER SERVICES: 



Some of the established online services— 
CompuServe, Prodigy, America Online — 
also offer game zones, but tend to be stuck 
in the old-school mode with text-based 
diversions-a far cry from the multimillion 
polygon experiences that can be found on the 
dedicated services. 

Service: CompuServe 

URL: www.compuserve.com 

Cost: $9.95 for monthly dues and first five 

hours, $2.95 per additional hour 

Service: America Online 
URL: www.aol.com 

Cost: $9.95 for monthly dues and first five 
hours, $2.95 per additional hour 

Service: Prodigy 

URL: www.prodigy.com 

Cost: $9.95 for monthly dues and first five 

hours, $2.95 per additional hour 

Service: GEnie 
URL: www.genie.com 

Cost: $8.95 for monthly dues and first four 
hours, $3 per additional hour 




52 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 



individual planes in your squadron to attack 
separate parts of a target, such as a port or 
munitions factory. 

With the upgrade, EF2000 supports 
up to eight players networked via IPX for 
campaign games and king-of-the-skies 
shootouts. The game also supports direct 
serial connection and modem play. 

For the future, the company is working 
on an F-22 simulation based on a new game 
engine. Whether that bird will fly over a 



Unlimited, a dazzling sim that added a new 
wrinkle to flight sims — stunt flying. 

With photo-based terrain graphics, 
achingly accurate flight models, and extra 
ordinarily detailed planes and sound effects, 
Flight Unlimited set a new standard for 
simulating pure recreational flying. 

“As a pilot and a flight sim enthusiast, 
the next logical step is to develop more 
realism with the flight models,” says Mike 
Sack, product manager at Looking Glass. 



“Image quality is going to go up radically. Performance quality is 
going to go up substantially.” 





network and the Internet is still being 
worked out. “We’re considering having 
one machine as a clock for the rest of the 
machines, sort of like a server,” said DID’s 
Nick Clarkson. 

NovaLogic is also gearing up two new 
titles, Comanche 3 and F-22 Lightning II. 
Comanche 3 is a helicopter sim built on 
NovaLogic's updated terrain rendering tech- 
nology, Voxel Space 2. F-22 Lightning II is 
being created to accurately simulate the 
flight model of the U.S. Air Force's aircraft 
of the same name. F-22 is not using the new 
Voxel Space rendering technology. Instead, 
it is being produced with a new polygon 
engine custom created for this sim. 



“The only way to differentiate ourselves is 
to give people that real flight model.” 

The next generation of Flight Unlimited, 
due late next year, will take you from the 
country to the city. “This time we're going 
to tackle not just scenic locations, but cities 
and lots of airports,” says Sack. Looking 
Glass plans to support Microsoft’s Direct3D 
with their Flight Unlimited follow-up. 



Air Warrior II Is the follow-up 
to Air Warrior, the king of 
online flight sims. The sequel 
features more than a dozen 
new airplanes, new ground ter- 
rain and improved cockpit 
graphics, and more than 100 
missions that allow players to 
practice before flying online. 

Air Warrior II is due for 
released in October. 



THE FRIENDLY SKIES 



Believe it or not, there are some gamers 
who actually enjoy flying without the testos- 
terone urge to destroy anything and every- 
thing. Microsoft's Flight Simulator, one of 
the top-selling games of all time, proved the 
viability of civilian flight sims. In Flight 
Simulator, realism is everything. You navi- 
gate from airport to airport, just like the big 
boys. Each new version steps up the quality 
of graphics and sound, and there are 
enough geographical add-ons to fly (seem- 
ingly) all over the globe. 

For years, Flight 
Simulator was about the 
only civilian flight sim 
available, but last year 
Looking Glass Technolo- 
gies released Flight 





Get a Grip on the Future 




“Force Feedback” may not 
be the hottest words on 
gamers’ lips today, but 
within 12 months, no self- 
respecting joystick juggler 
will play without it. Arcade 
^ v players and high-end simu- 

lator jocks are familiar with the way that 
“active” controls can add to a simulator 
experience: In Sega’s Daytona USA , for 
example, the steering wheel shakes if you 
drive over the hard shoulder (this is consid- 
ered “canned” force feedback, as the game 
only turns a preset shake generator on or 
off); in a high-end flight simulator, often 
your entire chair will buck and jolt in accor- 
dance with your plane’s movements (this is 
called “smart” force feedback, as it reacts to 
the specific game environment). 

Smart force feedback is coming to your 
home and is set to revolutionize the home 
gaming experience. 

At its core level, a game is simply inter- 
action between a human player and soft- 
ware running on a computer. If this interac- 
tion can be thought of as a conversation, 
the game “listens” through its keyboard or 
joystick, and “speaks” via images on its 
monitor and sound through its speakers. By 
adding a third dimension to the computer’s 



vocabulary (that of generating “smart” physical 
movement that the player detects through his 
joystick or chair), you enhance your computer’s 
communication skills dramatically. When con- 
sidered in these terms, it’s easy to see why a 
lot of people in the game industry are more 
excited by force feedback than they are by any 
new 3D graphics accelerator or sound card 
that merely yield marginal improvements to 
established means of computer “speech.” 

One company (and there are many) hoping 
to bring force feedback to market in 1996 is 
Immersion Corp., based in Sunnyvale, Calif. For 
approximately $150, the company hopes to 
introduce a stick that, in the words of 
Immersion Corp. president, Louis Rosenburg, 

“is basically an input device, like a traditional 
joystick, but also an output device.” 

And how does it work? “There are actuators 
on each of the joystick’s axes,” Rosenburg 
explains, “so the computer can independently 
command a force to the X or Y axis. It’s much 
more sophisticated than a traditional joystick... 
it has its own microprocessors. Essentially, it’s 
a robot that looks like a joystick and sits on 
your desk.” 

Immersion has several demos up and run- 
ning to demonstrate the force feedback experi- 
ence. In one, players simply guide a cursor 
around a simple desktop that has “puddles” 




Force Feedback 

joysticks add smart physical 

movement to gaming and extend the realism 

beyond the screen and into the player's hand. 

of liquids of various viscosity. The joystick 
“drags” through the puddles, perfectly emu- 
lating a sensation akin to stirring thick paint, 
or spooning treacle. In another demo, a sim- 
ple game of Pong is revolutionized by an 
elasticized bat and the need to wrestle with 
your opponent for control of the ball. It 
must be played to be appreciated. 

“What we can do with this technology is 
really model the dynamics of what it feels 
like to drive a car into a wall, or pull a loop- 
the-loop in an airplane,” says Rosenburg. 

“We can simulate the real physical dynamics 
of anything; a spring, gravity, an elastic 
band, anything.” 

— Neil West 



EXCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THE SKY 

Whether you’re a fan of modern, historical, 
or civilian sims, today's flight sims are 
taking game players to new heights. The 
legends, such as Falcon 4.0, Apache, and 
Flight Unlimited, have proven that luscious 
graphics can be effectively combined with 
realistic flight models. But these titles 
will soon be left in the clouds by a new 
generation of sims. 

With the arrival of hardware 3D graphic 
acceleration and new terrain rendering sys- 
tems, the graphics will be more than lus- 
cious: They’ll be amazing. The new A/Is 
will extend the realistic flight models into 
realistic battle arenas and challenging war 
zones. And with reduced latency on the 
emerging dedicated online gaming services, 
there will never be a shortage of opponents. 
Indeed, the next few years promise to usher 
in a new era of computer simulations, and 
flight sims will be at the forefront of the 
gaming revolution. 

It looks like it’s going to be a fantastic 
day for flying. 0 




With the accelerator cards, everybody’s 
going to have good graphics...” 



Lee Buchanan is the senior editor of Twice magazine and a contibuting editor to PC 
Gamer, a boot sister publication. 



A sequel to Flight Unlimited, the most 

demanding sim of all time, is due late next year. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 53 





How To Build 









' 








I t's a good time to be 
alive. Five thousand 
clams buys a honking lot 
of computer. Enough so 
that nobody in the neigh- 
borhood is going to be 
able to look down on you 
any time soon. But don’t 
just rush down to the local 
Computers-R-Us and write a 
check. That’s sissy. Build your 
own PC from hand-picked, 
prime components. 

No, it ain’t cheaper — in fact, 
we just about guarantee you’ll 
on parts alone 



is a 



Full Metal Jacket 

None of that cheap plas 
tic crap for 
— s — J you: Start 
off with a full-size, all- 
metal tower case that 
has an easy-access side 
door. Throw in noth- 
ing less than a 300- 
watt power supply. 

And don’t forget about 
cooling, either: Get a 
case with dual fans. 

You’ll need at least 
three 5.25-inch drive 
bays and two 3. 5 -inch 
bays. If you have a lot 
of drives to hook up, 
get a few extra Y-adapter power 
cables. Don’t worry about turbo 
lights or buttons, (although you can 
hook the turbo switch to the mother- 
board’s “sleep” connector if you 
want to trigger power-saving mode 
manually). 

Boot Recommends: Any full-height 
metal tower ($150), any 300-watt 
power supply ($100) 



Mother of all boards 

Now you have an empty 
shell. Fill it. If you’re a 
gamer, you’ll be running 
DOS and Windows 95. That means 
you'll be playing in the 16-bit realm 
most of the time. And that means 
you're buying Intel’s 200MHz Pen- 
tium. Notice we didn’t say 200MHz 
Pentium Pro. Our tests have shown 
that the Pentium Pro's performance 
on 16-bit apps easily lags that of the 
200MHz P5. If you’re serious about 
32-bit (read Windows NT), then your 
choice for speed is the Pentium Pro. 

So what about Cyrix and AMD? 
Also rans? Not quite. Cyrix’s 
166MHz 686 outperforms all but 
the zippiest Pentiums. This is a 
solid CPU for running mixed 16- 
and 32-bit apps. The NexGen/AMD 
586, on the other hand, is pretty 
lame. It uses an enhanced 386 in- 
struction set instead of true 
486/586 instructions. Among other 
things, that means it won’t work 
with Windows NT 4.0. 

Around the comer, look for Intel 
to introduce 233MHz Pentium CPUs, 
the new MMX-based Pentium, 
and the Pentium Pro “Lite” 
(sans internal cache). The 
MMX will feature fast integer 
calculations ideal for graphics 
and other multimedia applica- 
tions; unfortunately, you’ll have 
to wait for vendors to release 
”new software versions that 
take advantage of MMX. 
You’ve decided on the processor, 
now you need a motherboard. Most 
of today's motherboards are built 
from Intel’s specifications. But you 
don’t want one from Intel. For your 
Pentium CPU, you want a mother- 
board built on VIA's VT82C580VP 
Apollo-VP chipset. It sports cool 
stuff, like up to 2MB of L2 cache. 
Boot Recommends: 200MHz 
Pentium ($495) on a First 
International Computer PT-2003 
motherboard (based on the VIA 
VT82C580VP Apollo-VP) ($1,000) 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 55 




the $5K 



HowTo Build 




MiiT4irn 



Ravenous for RAM 

To keep that CPU beast 
fed, you're going to need 
some serious RAM and 
cache. Unfortunately, standard asyn- 
chronous dynamic RAM (DRAM) 
can barely keep up with a Pentium’s 
insatiable memory bandwidth 
requirements, and the Pentium Pro 
eats the stufflike candy. DRAM 
waits until the CPU reads each word 
of memory before serving up the 
next and has to periodically take time 
out to refresh its memory image. 

To make up for DRAM's limita- 
tions, the system cache in your com- 
puter uses static RAM (SRAM) to 
hold the most recently accessed 
memory contents. While a 128k 
cache may be sufficient for a com- 
puter with 8MB RAM or less, you 
need 256k cache for a 16MB or larg- 




The ideal, but 
costly, solution 



er computer. Unless 
your motherboard 
comes stock with one, 
upgrading to a 512k 
cache offers only incre- 
mental improvement in 
systems with up to 
32MB of RAM, but can 
be a good choice for 
machines with 64MB of 
RAM or more. 

The much-hyped 
EDO (Extended Data 
Out) DRAM was intro- 
duced as a way to elimi- 
nate the expensive and 
power-hungry SRAM. 

EDO retains the output • 
of the last word fetched from RAM 
on its output pins while fetching the 
next, so the CPU can grab the wait- 
ing data whenever it’s ready. In 
addition, this data remains available 
even while the DRAM is being 
refreshed. At best, EDO DRAM is 
only 10 percent faster than its tamer 
cousin, and in most computers, 

EDO RAM is redundantly teamed 
up with an SRAM cache. 

Synchronous memory is directly 
tied to the clock cycle of the CPU, so 
the memory flows in a continuous 



is to use 
SDRAM for all I 
your memory , 1 
which yields | 

impressive 

performance and 
in effect provides 
a cache as large 
as your total I 
memory. 



stream without the fits and starts 
induced by DRAM wait 
states. By teaming synch- 
burst SRAM with standard 
JQ|or EDO DRAM, memory 
performance is boosted still 

■ further. The ideal, but cost- 
ly, solution (if supported by 
your motherboard) is 
to use SDRAM, or 
synchronous dynamic 
RAM, for all your 
memory, which yields 
impressive memory 
performance and in effect 
provides a cache as large as 
your total memory. 

•Boot Recommends: 32MB DRAM 
($400) and a 512k SRAM cache 
(on motherboard) 




Catch the Local Bus 

The system bus is the 
backbone of your com- 
puter and is primarily 
used for accessing memory. To 
access peripherals, your computer 
can use either the ISA bus, VESA 
Local Bus, or PCI bus. ISA 
(Industry Standard Architecture) 
is the original input/output bus 
and is still in use today — due to 



“BUT I’VE ONLY GOT $3,000...” 



A PC pundit once said that the 
system you want always costs 
$3,000. That was 10 years ago. 
These days, what can you get 
for a measly $3,000? Is this the 
realm of “doorstop with fan?” 
Decidedly not. Here’s how to 
make sure you get the most for 
your mole. 

Step 1: Hurry down to your local 
computer superstore. Enter. 
Notice the crowds. Notice the 
saliva glistening on the fangs of 
the salespeople. Exit. Hurry 
home. Pick up the phone. Call 
the direct vendors, such as Dell, 
Micron, and Tagram. Many of 
their package deals are amaz- 
ing. Or they’ll build a system to 
suit your needs, and it’ll be 
cheap. Unfortunately, delivery 
can take a month. In any event, 
make sure the following is 
inside the box. 

Most systems have at least 
three PCI slots and three ISA 



slots. That’s good enough for 
nearly everyone. The keys to 
good performance are RAM 
quantity and CPU speed. For 
$3,000, the best balance is 
24MB of RAM and a 133MHz 
Pentium. It’s cost-effective and 
still fast. If they ask about 
cache, ask for 256k— they may 
offer 512k, but it’d be like 
putting mag tires on a Honda 
Accord: fun to boast about, real- 
ly just gilding the lily. 

The next place going to put 
your money is a video card. 
Windows 95 is a graphics hog, 
so don’t scrimp here. The PCI- 
based Matrox MGA Millennium 
is a perennial favorite. You’ll 
want at least 2MB of VRAM to 
get all those 1280x1024 pixels 
going on your screen at 76Hz. 
Next you’ll need something to 
plug into your video card.' Think 
17 inches. For a little more than 
$800, you can get Sony’s 



Multiscan 17sf II, which sports 
an incredibly clear and flat 
Trinitron screen. Warning: Many 
direct vendors offer other 
brands. Some of them are OK, 
some aren’t. Few match the 
quality of the Sony Multiscan. If 
push comes to shove, order 
your system sans monitor, and 
get the monitor from a vendor 
such as Insight Direct. 

Once you can see your new PC, 
it’s time to hear it. Often, sales- 
people will try to convince you 
that “it’s really Sound Blaster- 
compatible.” Right. And the 
check’s in the mail. Some sound 
cards sound better than a 
Sound Blaster (notably Turtle 
Beach cards), and some are less 
expensive. But there are just 
too many applications that 
assume you’ll have a real Sound 
Blaster. Ask about the price dif- 
ference between the Sound 
Blaster 16 and Sound Blaster 



AWE32. If it’s $100 or less, it’s 
probably worth upgrading for 
the improved quality of 
wavetable synthesis. 

For communication with the out- 
side world, you need a modem. 
Most system deals come with 
an infernal, uh, internal modem. 
True, these cards are cheaper 
than external modems. True, 
they don’t clutter up your desk. 
Unfortunately, they’re also 
prone to configuration problems 
and make it difficult to diagnose 
line problems. But this is a 
good place to save a few hun- 
dred bucks anyway. Supra’s 
28.8i is a good bet. You’ll prob- 
ably never get 28.8Kbps out of 
it, but that’s true of nearly every 
28.8 modem on the market (the 
problem is in the phone lines, 
not the modems). 

That pundit was right: The sys- 
tem you want is always $3,000. 

• — John Montgomery 



56 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 






the many legacy expansion cards 
still in circulation. 

The ISA bus transfers data at a 
measly 8MHz to 10MHz, no matter 
how fast your CPU. This data is 
shuttled back and forth in 8-bit or 
16-bit chunks. When 640x480 16- 
color graphics were state of the art, 
ISA could keep up. But today's 
applications rely on 1024x768 or 
higher resolutions with millions or 
even billions of colors. Real-time 
graphics need to update megabytes 
of memory every fractional second. 

A direct 32-bit connection between 
the video card and the CPU was 
needed and inspired the develop- 
ment of the VESA Local Bus (VLB). 

But VLB had limitations and was 
quickly overtaken by Intel’s superior 
PCI architecture. The PCI bus trans- 
fers data at either 32- or 64-bits, at 
speeds as high as 132MB per second. 
Future motherboards will double 
this rate. When attached to a PCI 
expansion slot, a graphics card can 
receive display data directly from the 
CPU, which results in sizzling ani- 
mation and zippy gameplay. 

Boot Recommends: three ISA slots 
and at least four PCI slots (on 
motherboard) 

Video on Demand 

Unless you plan to ignore 
Windows 95 and the next 
release of Windows NT. 
your PCI video card must support 
DirectX and ActiveX, including 
DirectDraw, Direct3D, and 
ActiveMovie. (Many current cards 
will support these via driver 
upgrades.) To get the most from 
DirectX, your graphics card must 
provide graphics acceleration, 3D 
acceleration, and motion video 
acceleration. 

The best graphics cards use a 64- 
bit or even 128-bit internal graphics 
bus. Instead of the slower DRAM 
memory used with bargain cards, 
VRAM, WRAM, SDRAM, and other 
exotic memory' technologies allow 
the card to read and write to the 
framebuffer simultaneously. Keep in 
mind that you’ll need 4MB of video 
RAM to get TrueColor graphics at 
resolutions of up to 1280x1024. 

So what card measures up to all 
of that? The Matrox Millennium 
with 4MB of WRAM. 




LO VE T H E OWE YOU’ RE WITH 

You were pretty happy with your computer when you first 
took it out of the box , but that was last year, and your com- 
puter isn't keeping up with the Joneses. Consider these 
options when upgrading your hardware: 

Get more memory. 16MB is the minimum; 24MB hits the 
“sweet spot.” 

Get more storage. Start with an EIDE 2.1GB hard drive and 
upgrade to a local bus EIDE hard disk controller. 

(5^ Replace your ISA graphics card with a VLB or PCI graphics 
card. If your 32-bit local bus card uses 1MB or 2MB DRAM, 
look for a new 64-bit or 128-bit card with 2MB or 4MB 
VRAM, WRAM, or SDRAM. If you don’t have motion video 
and 3D acceleration, you’ll be wanting it soon, once the 
necessary operating system drivers and the software that 
take advantage of it become available. 

( 4 ?) If you have a Pentium 60 or Pentium 75, try a Pentium 

OverDrive upgrade for Pentium systems. Consider upgrad- 
ing to compatible alternative chips or kits based on Cyrix 
or AMD CPUs. For the old 486-class machine sitting in the 
corner collecting dust, get a Pentium motherboard, or a 
Pentium OverDrive chip for 486 systems. 

Make sure you have a 4x CD-ROM drive to get the most 
from games and multimedia applications, but you should- 
n’t rush into a new 8x or higher speed drive until more 
titles can take advantage of it. Wait until late this year 
before buying a DVD drive, since there currently isn’t any 
software available for the platform, and prices are high. 

And don't forget to fine-tune your software : 

(T) Uninstall unnecessary software, delete unused drivers, 

remove excessive fonts. Consider buying an uninstall utility 
to help you kkep you system clean. 

^ 2 ) If you prefer Windows 3.1, upgrade to Windows for 

Workgroups 3.11 and enable 32-bit file access and 32-bit 
disk access. Use a permanent swap file that’s half the size 
of your physical memory. (Use the 386 Enhanced icon in 
Control Panel to set these options.) If you don’t use 
Windows for Workgroups, be sure that SmartDrive is 
loaded in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to cache the hard drive. 

( 3 ) Run a disk defragmenter/optimizer such as the DEFRAG 
command in DOS 6.x. With Windows 95, use the Disk 
Defragmenter in the Start/Programs/Accessories/System 
Tools menu. 

(£) With Windows 95, upgrade to 32-bit versions of the soft- 
ware you use most often to get the full benefits of multi- 
tasking and memory management. 

( 5 ) Check your CMOS settings (be sure to note the existing 
settings before making a change). Make sure the internal 
and external cache are enabled (and set to Write-Back if 
using a Pentium CPU). Shadow the video and BIOS (unless 
your video card manual recommends against it). If running 
Windows, don’t cache these ROMs. Make sure the memory 
is set for Hidden Refresh (in most cases), and is not using 
excessively conservative wait-state and memory speed set- 
tings. Set unused hard drives to type None. 




How To Build 

D 
R 
E 
A 
M 

Now you need a monitor. When 
you’re shopping, remember: It’s not 
the size, it’s the frequency. If you 
want to go very high end, Nanao 
makes pretty funkin' fine monitors. 
At $1,000, their 17-inch Trinitron- 
based T2-17TS display is a bit pricey, 
but worth it. Gamers might opt to 
spend that $1,000 on a 20-inch mon- 
itor to gain size, but will end up los- 
ing a bit of resolution. 

Boot Recommends: Matrox Millen- 
nium PCI graphics card with 4MB 
WRAM ($350), Nanao T2-17TS 17- 
inch monitor ($1,000) 

The Old In/Out 

Data in. Data out. No mat- 
ter what else you have, if 
you have problems in the 
I/O department, you’re screwed. 

For best results, you need a local 
bus IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) 





or Enhanced IDE (EIDE) interface, 
which is frequently built into the 
system motherboard. While IDE is 
limited to just two drives and a top 
speed of under 5MB/sec, EIDE 
interfaces can run up to four drives 
(including CD-ROM drives), and 
max out at about lOMB/sec. To get 
these speeds, look for drives with 
support for PIO Mode 3 or Mode 4. 

Power users frequently turn to 
SCSI for superior I/O performance. 
Not only does Fast SCSI-1 1 equal 
EIDE’s lOMB/sec transfer rate (when 
attached to the local bus), you can 
attach up to seven peripherals to a 
single SCSI host adapter card, and 
you can access multiple SCSI drives 
simultaneously (EIDE drives have to 
take turns on the bus). Fast/ Wide 
SCSI can run at 20MB/sec, and the 
new Ultra Wide SCSI III hits a new 
high with a transfer rate of 40MB/sec. 
A great advantage of this scheme is 
the SCSI host adapter only requires 
a single I/O address and IRQ — 
important because even modem PC 
designs are limited to just a few free 
IRQ and conflicting I/O addresses. 

For ultimate hard drive speed, 
ignore the built-in EIDE and spring 
for an Ultra Wide SCSI III host 
adapter such as Adaptec’s 2940UW. 



True UltraWide SCSI drives are only 
now becoming available; get these in 
favor of standard Fast/Wide drives. 
A/V drives cost only slightly more 
and deliver an uninterrupted flow of 
data for video and multimedia pro- 
duction. (Even standard Fast/Wide 
SCSI A/V drives with spindle speeds 
of 7200rpm are blisteringly fast and 
cost much less than UltraWide SCSI 
III.) Late this year, you’ll have anoth- 
er option as motherboards with 
IEEE 1394 and USB interfaces are 
introduced. You can use an EIDE or 
a SCSI CD-ROM, and honestly, 4x is 
as fast as you need if you’re using 
the drive to run off-the-shelf applica- 
tions, which are optimized for 2x 
and 4x speeds. An 8x drive (lOx dri- 
ves are just now becoming available) 
comes in handy for installing soft- 
ware or running some titles directly 
from the disc. Instead of buying a 
new 8x CD-ROM, you may get more 
mileage from a 4x CD changer, 
which lets you store up to three CDs 
internally or seven discs externally 
for information at your fingertips. 
Anyway, next year you’ll be buying 
the new high density Digital Video 
Disc (DVD-ROM) drives. 

It’s a shame that even the fastest 
computer can do no better than 



ONE PC FREAK’S RECIPE FOR THE $5000 



Start with a Supermicro P55-T2S 
motherboard, based on Intel's 
latest and fastest 430HX Triton 
II chipset. On board is 512k of 
pipeline burst cache, four PCI 
and four ISA slots, and the full 
range of I/O ports-even IrDA 
infrared and Universal Serial 
Bus interfaces for devices that 
might need them. Right now, 
we'll save about $200 with a 
150MHz Pentium CPU instead 
of a 166. Very few jobs are 
totally compute-bound and it’s 
only a 10 percent drop in CPU 
performance anyway. (Besides, 
there's a good chance that we 
can overclock that chip to 
166MHz.) Two 16MB 60ns EDO 
SIMMs give us a comfortable 
32MB of RAM. 

In order to save a few dollars 
that are better invested else- 
where in our dream system, 
Nanao's T2-17TS monitor is a 



sensible luxury. But the 17-inch 
DiamondTron picture tube, 
Mitsubishi's licensed version 
of the Sony Trinitron design, 
is wasted without a video card 
that runs quickly in full 24-bit 
color at 1024x768 resolution. 

The Matrox Millennium 3D PCI 
card offers 3D acceleration with 
hardware texture mapping, and 
the 4MB of dual-ported WRAM 
display memory isn't going to 
choke at high data rates. 

Modern operating systems work 
the hard disk almost constantly, 
making Adaptec's AHA 3940UW 
dual-channel SCSI adapter 
another worthwhile splurge. You 
can connect up to seven devices 
on each Ultrafast Wide SCSI 
port. (You can hook up almost 
unlimited storage), and the con- 
troller's 40MB/sec maximum 
data transfer rate should be 
quick enough for anything. 



Let's also get Quantum's 
screaming fast 2.1GB Atlas drive- 
with the optional Wide SCSI 
interface, naturally. It costs 
almost twice as much as an 
EIDE drive of the same capacity, 
but none can match the Atlas's 
7200rpm rotational rate, 8ms 
access time or the on-board 1MB 
of buffer memory. Toshiba's 6.7x 
SCSI CD-ROM drive has a 256k 
buffer and a world-beating 
110ms access time. Throw in an 
Epson Zip drive for making 
backups and trading large files. 
The Internet is where it's at, but 
almost any PC can process data 
much faster then a modem 
delivers it. Motorola's BitSurfr 
Pro ISDN terminal adapter com- 
pletely bypasses analog phone 
lines for the fastest Internet 
connection you can get without 
an expensive leased line. It's 
an all-in-one ISDN interface 



package that doesn't cost that 
much more than a good DSVD 
(digital simultaneous voice/data) 
modem. 

There isn't much call for vintage 
hardware in a modern PC, but 
it makes sense in one area: 
Millions of genuine used IBM 
PC/AT keyboards are available 
from surplus dealers for around 
$60 each. A $20 Dexxa mouse 
and a simple CH FlightStick 
work fine, and the money 
saved can go elsewhere, like' 
toward a Creative Labs Sound 
Blaster AWE32 PnP sound card. 
But there's no point in having 
a killer sound card if your 
speakers can't reproduce the 
sounds accurately. Altec 
Lansing's ACS300.1 powered 
speaker and subwoofer system 
doesn't come cheap, but it's a 
multimedia legend. 

— Tim Victor 



58 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 




53 



For ultimate 

hard drive 
speed, ignore 
the built-in EIDE 
and spring for 
an UltraWide 
SCSI III host 
adapter. 



115,200 bits per second 
using data compres- 
sion and a 28.8Kbps 
v.34 modem, but this is 
the maximum rate of a 
standard serial port. 

You can install either 
an internal modem 
with a built-in 16550 
UART, or attach an 
external modem to a 
16550-equipped serial 
port (standard on 
today's Pentium motherboards). A 
few modems are available with par- 
allel port interfaces. Speaking of 
which, make sure your motherboard 
supports the new EPP and ECP par- 
allel port modes for fastest connec- 
tion to peripherals like Iomega’s ZIP 
drive and EPP printers. 

Computers introduced late this 
year and next year introduce the 
IEEE 1394 and Universal Serial Bus 
(USB) interfaces. Like SCSI, these 
interfaces let you attach multiple 
peripherals to a single computer 
port. Unlike the expensive parallel 
cables and termination issues you 
run into with SCSI, these are high- 
speed serial buses, which send data 
one bit at a time at high frequency. 
The 1394 interface is ideal for hard 



drives, scanners, tape drives, and 

consumer electronics equip- 
ment (such as digital cam- 
corders), with a starting 
speed of 25MB/sec to 50 
MB/sec, with a potential 
speed of 100 MB/sec and 
beyond. The less expensive 
USB sends data between 
lOk/sec and lOMB/sec, transfer- 
ring data asynchronously 
between devices such as modems, 
mice, keyboards, and graphics 
tablets, and providing uninterrupted 
isochronous throughput for devices 
such as sound cards and video cap- 
ture devices. Both interfaces let you 
plug and unplug devices anywhere 
on the bus, even while the computer 
is turned on. 

boot Recommends: Adaptec’s AHA 
2940UW UltraWide SCSI III host 
adapter ($400) and Quantum 2.1GB 
Atlas hard drive ($700) 




The Well-Endowed PC 

There was a time when 
computers were quiet 
except for the humming 
of their fans and occasional squeak 
from the internal speaker. But today, 
you need some bass. It makes sense 
to endow a prime computer like this 



with a great sound card with 16-bit, 
44kHz stereo audio and either 3D 
stereo or surround sound decoding. 
You'll prefer the superior music ren- 
dition offered by a wavetable sound 
card, which uses actual sampled 
instruments instead of an electronic 
synthesizer. Ideally, you can upgrade 
the memory of the wavetable to add 
more samples, but off-the-shelf soft- 
ware doesn’t require it. 

What completes the perfect PC? 

A comfortable keyboard with 104 
keys makes navigating Windows 95 
easier. If you use your computer for 
hours a day, look for an ergonomi- 
cally sculptured keyboard and an 
ergonomic mouse to avoid repetitive 
strain injury. Some keyboards have 
built-in touchpads or trackballs. If 
you’re into drawing and painting on 
the computer, add a pressure-sensi- 
tive graphics tablet. 

But what red-blooded computer 
geek could stop there? Get a video 
capture card or digital camera, a 
color flatbed scanner, six-piece sur- 
round sound speaker system with 
subwoofer, color laser printer, and 
VR headgear. If you know what you 
want and are willing to invest the 
sweat to make it a reality, you can 
own the machine of your dreams. 0 



DREAM MACHINE 

Component S 

Supermicro P55-T2S motherboard 
w/ 512k pipelined burst cache IV 

Intel Pentium 200MHz CPU IV 

2 pc. 4MB x 32bit 60ns EDO SIMM IV 

Nanao T2-17TS monitor A 

Matrox MGA Millennium, 4MB C 

Adaptec 3940UW SCSI adapter C 

Quantum Atlas XP31250W It 

Toshiba T03701 CD-ROM D 

Epson Zip drive P 

Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP C 

Altec Lansing ACS300.1 Speaker System C 

IBM PC/AT Keyboard (used) P 

CH Products FlightStick C 

Logitech Dexxa Mouse C 

Motorola BitSURFR Pro C 

Tower case, 1.44 and 1.2 floppy drives IV 



E BREAKDOWN 


Source 




Price 


Megatrends Enterprises International 


$285 


Micro-Assist Inc. 




$495 


Memory Man Inc. 




$314 


Automated Tech Tools 




$1025 


ComputAbility 




$439 


ComputAbility 




$419 


Insight 




$729 


Drive Outlet Center 




$199 


PC Mall 




$199 


ComputAbility 




$225 


ComputAbility 




$169 


Page Computer 




$59 


ComputAbility 




$33 


ComputAbility 




$23 


CDW 




$348 


Millennium Technologies 




$109 


$5070 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 59 





( 12-step) 

program 



DEALING WITH YOUR 
PC OBSESSION 
DAY TO DAY 
BY BREAKING IT DOWN 
INTO 12 EASY STEPS 



this month: 

How to 
create a 
Web page 
with 

panache 

— • Putting together a 
Web page is easy. 
Putting together a 
power page, 
one that won’t be an 
embarrassment 
to your kids and 
a source of humor 
for your colleagues, 
is a little harder 
but certainly 
worth the effort. 
With boot’s patented 
12-step plan, 
even the HTML-naive 
can post their page 
tonight. 
— Kurt Cagle 




All Web pages are composed in 





Plan, plan, plan 

j Decide why you’re post- 
ing the page: Are you 
putting up your resume? Discussing 
your hobby? Showing off your kids? 
A Web site, like any document, re- 
quires design and forethought to 
make it readable, engaging, and in- 
formative. Your first major design 
decision is: Which browsers to sup- 
port? Netscape Navigator 2.0 is the 
most popular (and the one we’ll 
use), but Microsoft’s Internet 
Explorer is growing in popularity. 
Since each supports a few “non- 
standard” tags, this decision deter- 
mines what tricks you can pull. 

I Structure 

HTML, the language of 
Web pages, has a <co/7- 
tainer> structure: The whole docu- 
ment is enclosed in opening and 
closing <HTML>tags (an opening 
tag contains the tag ID— in this 
case HTML, and a closing tag has 
the same ID preceded by a 
slash</HTML>). The document is 
then broken into a header section 
enclosed in <HEAD> tags, and a 
body section <BODY>. With few 
exceptions (such as images or 
embedded applications such as 
java Applets), everything is con- 
tained in opening and closing 
tags: links, text attributes, and 
scripting code. For examples, take 
a look at the HTML from any page 
whose design you like by just 
going to the Document Source 
command under the View menu in 
Netscape 2.0. 



www.missouri.edu/~c588349/ 
colormaker.html (see screen below). 

Another BODY tag attribute, BACK- 
GROUND, is used to load JPEG and GIF 
images as backgrounds. The browser 
will tile the background images, so 
match up the left and right, and top 
and bottom edges for the illusion of a 
continuous image. For example, The 
Mission: Impossible Homepage sports 
a cool blue textured background 
and uses <BODY BACKGROUND= 
“bluebac2.gif”>. 

The background image file needs 
to be in the same directory as the 
HTML document. Note: Pages with 
a BACKGROUND image should also 
include a BGCOLOR tag for browsers 
that don’t support the tiled image. 




«»t* «*rl t Jut« wall' tc*fu.-v<brr»-Wc 

». lit At f « i tk: f> •/&** idreM K . 1 



■ 

* wy lit it: *j tel tfy .VfaA yjlaii Tty b Orf' 



□ Setting text color 
defaults 



Colors and 
backgrounds 

Netscape's default background is 
gray, which is OK for showing off 
black text but probably not some- 
thing Martha Stewart would 
approve of. Luckily, you can 
change the background color by 
using the BGCOLOR attribute in 
the <BODY> statement. All colors in 
HTML are specified in hexadecimal 
format. A great tool for working 
with hex colors can be found at 



If you want your words read, don’t 
make them red on a red background. 
Contrast is the key. Within the BODY 
tag, set the default text color using 
the TEXT attribute and the same hex 
notation discussed in the previous 
step. Given the blue background from 
the last example, yellow text would 
stand out, so we expand the body 
statement: <BODY BACKGROUND= 
“bluebac2.giF TEXT=“#FFFFDO”>. You 
can also set the color of link text, 
using the attributes LINK, ALINK (for 
active, or pressed, links), and VUNK 
(for visited links). 




a language called HTML that can 
be generated in any editor capa- 
ble of exporting plain text. This 
screen of HTML code from The 
Mission: Impossible Homepage 
shows the container structure 
described in step 2. 




Changing text 
characteristics 



In HTML, type sizes are designated 
from <H1> down to <H6> with <H1> 
being the biggest and usually used 
for the page’s main headline or title, 
<H2> a subhead, and so on. The body 
of your text should be left without an 
<H> tag so it will default to the stan- 
dard legible size. On the Mission: 
Impossible page, the headline is a GIF 
file (see next step for inserting graph- 
ics). The “Mission” subhead text is 
coded <H2>Mission</H2> and the body 
is set at <H3>. Designers discovered the 
Web and these limited tags were 
joined by descriptive tags, such as <B> 
for bold, and <l> for italics. 



Images If alt content 

on the Web 
was text, design would be 
simple. It’s not (as the numerous hits 
on the Playboy site illustrate). 
Fortunately, picture support was 
added early in the evolution of HTML, 
and the Image tag <IMG> bristles with 
features. Loading an image into a 
Web site is as simple as specifying 
the source of the image, relative to 
the current directory, using the SRC 
attribute. Let’s say we have a logo 
file called logo.gif in a subdirectory 
called images. Accessing the image is 
simple: <IMG SRC= “images/logo 
.giF>. Note the forward slash— the 
Web follows Unix rather than DOS 
conventions. Image tags should also 
note WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes to 
allow text to flow while larger images 
download, <IMG SRC=“images/logo.giF 
WIDTH =100 HEIGHT=80>. These tags 
can also be used to scale images by 
deviating the numbers from the actu- 
al pixel dimensions of the target 
image. If your image consists primari- 
ly of flat colors, use the GIF format; 
JPEGs work best with photographs. 




60 • AUG/SEPT 96 boot 







HOW-TO 




Positioning text 
and graphics 



Because most browsers allow pages 
to be variously resized (and your 
content subsequently reflowed), you 
should design for the screen to be 
any size. Luckily, there are tags to 
control the positioning of objects and 
text on a page. HTML doesn’t recog- 
nize the carriage return as a charac- 
ter, so paragraphs should be en- 
closed within <P>tags</P>. The <BR> 
tag is used to automatically jump to 
the next line, and unlike most tags, 
it’s not a container (you only need 
one). Text can be aligned left, right, 
or centered with the <AL1GN> tag. 
Image tags also have alignment 
attributes; for example, we can add a 
“drop cap’’ graphic by using the fol- 
lowing: <IMG SRC= “images/dropcap 
.gif" ALIGN=LEFT>. It is also possible 
to create a rule, or line, which sepa- 
rates parts of a page; the tag to do 
this is <HR> which can accept both 
a thickness attribute, SIZE, and a 
width attribute, WIDTH; i.e., <HR 
WIDTH =**80%” SIZE=5> will make a 
rule five pixels high that takes up 80 
percent of the screen. 



<TABLE WIDTH*” 100% "> 

<tr v align* top alignment er> 

Ctclxa href='iifl£ .html#missian”xniG SRC* "miss ion. jpg ”xbr>raission</ ax/t<l> 
<td coJLspan- rcmspan*::xIMG SRC* "ini 03 . gif x/td> 

<tdxa href=”im£ . htrnl #agents "xIMG SRC* "agents . jpg”xbr>agents</ax/td> 

</tr> 

<tr v all gn«=rt) i dci 1 e align* centei:> 

<tdxa href=”irof . htrol#sound”xIMG SRC*".iound. ;i pg"Xbr>sound</ a>C/t d> 

<tdxa href=”itt£ . htral#schedule”xlMC SRC* "schedule. jpg"Xbr>schedule</ax/t d> 
</tr> 

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<tdxa href="irttf . h tin 1 o v i e ” XIM G SRC* "movie . jpg"Xb i >inovie</ax/L (l> 

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<tdxa href* ”irof . htrnl# links ”XH1G SRC*” l inks . jpg"xbr>links</ax/ta> 

<tdxa href=”iittf . html#stats”Xl!IG SRC='"3t h-:s . gif ”Xl)i >stats</aX/td> 

</tr> 



</tal)le> 

</center> 




Tables Web ' designers 
want multiple 
columns of text on a page, 
so one of the few HTML 3.0 stan- 
dards that’s been universally adopted 
is tables, which allows text or pic- 
tures to be stacked or otherwise 
positioned in a grid. Tables use 
the <TABLE> tag to contain all the 
columns, and then table row tags 




Links and anchors 

| The World Wide Web is the 
largest hypertext document 
known to man. A hypertext jump, 
known as a link, uses the <A> tag 
(which stands for anchor). An anchor 
is like a bookmark in your page, 
specified with the name attribute: 

<A NAME=“info”>. To jump to that 
anchor, make use of the HREF 
attribute, specifying the named 
anchor with a pound sign in front of 
it <A HREF=**#info”>. The HREF can 
also be used to specify the URL of 
another Web page. Since the anchor 
tag is a container, any characters 
contained between the start of the 
link and its closing tag become 
underlined and will jump to the loca- 
tion when clicked: <A HREF=“http:// 
www.bootNet.com” >This jumps to 
bootNet</A>. It’s also possible to put 
an image within an anchor tag, which 
will cause the graphic to be outlined; 
to eliminate the rectangular border, 
set the BORDER attribute of the 
image tag to zero: <A HREF=“http:// 
www.bootNet.com”> <IMG SRC* 
“button.gif” BORDER=Ox/A>. 




Embeds )ava ' Sh ° ck ' 

wave, and 
other external applets can 
all enhance your site. And 
adding them is simple. With a Java 
applet, all you need is to include the 
source of this file and the size of the 
window you wish to display the 
applet in: <EMBED SRC=“myApplet 
.java” WIDTH=248 HEIGHT=124>. This 
convention holds true for most plug- 
ins. The <NOEMBED> tag takes an 
image that you can load in place of 
the plug-in application, and applies it 
to the last embedded applet: <NOEM- 
BED SRC = M sorry.gif” WIDTH=248 
HEIGHT=124>. 



This HTML 3.0 code describes the table of images found at the top of The 
Mission: Impossible Homepage seen below. See Step 9 for more info. 




Testing and 
Compatibility 




<cent erxh'^xa name- ion</ fixA^x/ccu 
<h3>Mission: Impossible takes its place in history i 
greatest American 



Compare the above HTML to the 
browser image below. The anchor 
link tag, <a>, is described in step 8. 



<TRx/TR> to contain an individual tag 
row. Each cell within a given row is 
then contained within a data tag 
<TD>. Within the <TABLE> tag it is pos- 
sible to give the table a border by 
using the BORDER attribute, as in 
<TABLE BORDER), and you can also 
specify the dimensions of the table 
using the WIDTH and HEIGHT tag, 
where the values are either given in 
pixels or as a percentage <TABLE 
BORDER WIDTH=“80%”> will create a 
table that is 80 percent of the screen 
width’s dimensions. See the sample 
HTML document for a table in action. 



Before you post your Web page for 
the world to see, make sure they’ll 
be able to do just that. Download as 
many browsers as you can and see 
how the page looks through each. 
Sometimes, there’s not a lot you can 
do (tables are a big problem, as are 
images), but there are a few tricks 
that can help. One of the IMG tag’s 
attributes is the <ALT> tag, which will 
display text if the browser can’t 
show the image: <IMG SRC= M logo.gif” 
ALT* “bootNet”). Consider creating 
alternate pages with the <PRE> tags— 
these will cause all text within the 
tags to be displayed, including line 
breaks and spaces. But brace your- 
self for great ugliness, because the 
tag is given as a mono font, and 
attribute tags will no longer work. 



Publish It ° nc h eyour 

Web page 

1 is polished, post it to a 
site. Commercial services such as AOL 
and CompuServe allow members to 
post up to 2MB of Web pages and 
images. If you’re new to Web publish- 
ing, this is a good place to start. 

There are also several Internet Service 
Providers, or ISPs, in most major met- 
ropolitan areas. Contact these ser- 
vices directly for more information 
about creating and posting to a Web 
site. Remember, Web pages should 
be periodically updated-this is a 
good time to improve your skills with 
the next version of the Great 
American Home Page. 



To compare all the source code 
described here, check out The 
Mission: Impossible Homepage at 
www.shadow.net/~toe/imf.html 




theM TSSTON- 







HOMEPAGE 




Mission: Impossible bikes Us place in history as the greatest American espionage television series. 
The original seven seasons ran from .September 1966 until April 197A on CHS. ’Hie shosvsVas 
brought bark to television in I9SX for tsso seasons on ABC. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 61 






( worthy ) 



EACH MONTH, BOOT 
EDITORS COMPILE THE 
BEST PRODUCTS IN A 

SPECIFIC CATEGORY AND 
DEEM THEM: BOOTWORTHY 



this month: 

Multimedia 

Speakers 

• Heard any good games lately? 

Developers have made incredible strides 
toward rendering the gaming experience 
both more realistic and more film-like. If 
you haven’t noticed, it’s probably 
because your speakers haven’t kept 
pace with the rest of your system. 
All the best new games offer a digital- 
audio soundtrack with 16-bit clarity. The 
best new sound cards offer megabytes 
of samples in ROM. If you’re still listen- 
ing to the econoboxes that come bun- 
dled with most PCs, you’re missing out. 
Dozens of companies offer multimedia 
speakers; frankly, most of these are 
crap. But we have high standards: 
Speakers must be small, magnetically 
shielded, and they must produce excel- 
lent stereo separation. Above all, they 
must pump both music and sound 
effects (everything from opera to rock to 
jazz to screams to shrieking metal to 
thundering explosions) with 
equal clarity at any volume. 
The champions in this category: Advent, 
Altec Lansing, Bose, Cambridge 
SoundWorks, and Yamaha. 

— Michael Brown 



Altec Lansing ACS 500 



PRICE: $399 

CONFIGURATION: Two satel- 
lites. one subwoolcr; Dolby 




long-throw woofer in the sub. The 
satellites deliver 22.5 watts each 
and the sub pumps out 40 watts. 

In a true surround-sound 
home-theater system, your speak- 
ers would be placed all around 
your viewing/listening area: front- 
left front-center, front-right, rear- 
left, rear-center, and rear-right. 
This isn’t practical when you’re 
sitting in front of a computer. 



Pro -Logic 

COMPANY: Alloc Lansing 
PHONE: BOO. (548. 6663 
URL www.allccnini.coin 



You haven’t really played Wing 
Commander IV until you’ve 
played the game through a sound 
system equipped with a Dolby 
Pro-Logic decoder. Altec Lansing 
was the first company to incorpo- 
rate the decoder chip into multi- 
media speakers, and Altec’s 
ACSSOO’s are the ultimate speak- 
ers for this particular game. 

The system consists of two 
satellite speakers the size of the 
World Trade Center (at 18 inches, 
they stand taller than a 17-inch 
monitor, and their footprint mea- 
sures 7 inches deep and 4.5 inch- 
es wide). A pillow-shaped sub- 
woofer, measuring 10 inches deep 
and 13 inches wide, is also 
included. If your desk space is 
tight, don’t even consider 
j|||k this system. 

Each satellite 
houses four dri- 
vers: Two 3-inch 
mid/bass, one 
1.25x2. 5-inch full- 
range, and one .5- 
inch dome tweeter. 
There’s a 6.5-inch 



Altec Lansing ACS500 



Altec mounted the rear-chan- 
nel speakers to delay the sound 
from reaching your ears just long 
enough to deliver the impression 
that the sound is originating from 
behind you. (If you want to go all 
out, Altec has even included an 
output jack for a second pair of 
stereo speakers [add a pair of 
rear channels] and a center chan- 
nel.) This is most effective when 
you’re listening to a soundtrack 
that has been encoded with 
Dolby Pro-Logic. In the opening 
video sequence of Wing IV, for 
example, you can hear the pirate 
ship uncloak behind you almost 
before you see it materialize 
behind the hapless fighter pilot. 
Origin says all its new games will 
be so encoded, but few other 
companies have jumped on 
the bandwagon, 
i The ACS500’s sound 
I great with other types of 
games as well. I took out a 
few ’bots playing Descent II 
and was impressed with 
the chest-thumping bass 
that the sub delivered with 
! each explosion. 

These aren’t the best 
| speakers for the audio 
purist. Even with the Pro- 
Logic decoder defeated, the 
odd placement of the drivers 
played tricks with the sound field 
in several of the conventional CDs 
that I used to test the system. 



62 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 





BOOTWORTHY: SPEAKERS 




Two satel 



Bose Acoustimass 



S699 



lites, one subwoofer 
CC ... Bose 

800.444.2673 

: www.musicwest.com/ 

Sponsors/Bose /bose.html 



The Bose Acoustimass series is 
legendary for delivering mucho 
sound from tiny speakers (aug- 
mented by a hefty subwoofer), 
and the Acoustimass multimedia 
system is no exception. 

These diminutive satellites 
(each houses a 2.5-inch, long- 
throw transducer) measure just 
3x3x5 inches. But the monster 
amp in the subwoofer cabinet 
pours 20 watts of power into 
each and 50 watts into the 
bass module. 

The Acoustimass delivers awe- 
some clarity and stereo separa- 
tion. You really come to appreci- 
ate such features when playing a 
game with a complex soundtrack, 
such asWing Commander IV, The 
Bose don’t feature a Dolby Pro- 
Logic decoder, but they’re so 
crystal clear that you can hear 
every detail even at low volume. 
This is particularly noticeable in 
the bar scene early in the game. 

When I pumped Duke 
Nukem’s throaty baritone though 
the huge subwoofer, it responded 
with satisfying resonance. And 
the game’s sound effects— every- 
thing from the anguished screams 
of female hostages being blown 



to smithereens to the sickening 
squish of a shrunken alien being 
dispatched by Duke’s mighty 
foot— sounded spectacular. 

The satellites have tripod 
mounts on their backs, but the 
wire stands used in Bose adver- 
tisements are not included in the 
list price. You’ll definitely want to 
elevate the speakers somehow; 
otherwise, the sound is driven 
into your chest instead of your 
ears. I tried putting them on top 
of my Trinitron monitor, but the 
resulting vibration caused the 
aperture grille to tremble and dis- 
torted the picture. 



Bose Ac oust! mass 

The satellites are magnetically 
shielded, so you needn’t worry 
about placing them in proximity 
to a monitor or diskettes. The 
subwoofer, on the other hand, is 
not shielded; so you’ll need to 
keep magnetic media out of its 
vicinity or risk losing data. 

The volume, bass, and treble 
controls are all located on the 
subwoofer, which makes them 
difficult to reach if you put the 
sub under your desk (the most 
logical place for it). A second set 
of stereo inputs lets you pipe a 
second source, such as an audio 
CD player, through the system at 
the same time. 

If desk space is a prime con- 
sideration, the Bose satellites 
deliver the best sound from the 
tiniest of footprints. 






Yamaha YST System 45 



$249 

Two satel- 
lites, one subwoofer 
Yamaha 

800.823.6414x399 

www.yamaha.com 

Yamaha makes great near-field 
speakers for recording studios, 
but their multimedia speakers 
have garnered much less atten- 
tion. I’m not sure why, because 
the YST System 45 is fabulous. 

This system pairs Yamaha’s 
excellent YST-M15 powered satel- 
lites with its beefy YST-SW10 sub- 
woofer. The M15s are arguably 
the most aesthetically pleasing 
speakers in this bootWorthy col- 
lection, with rounded lines and 
cloth grilles. The magnetically 
satellite cabinets are made of 
plastic; the sub is constructed of 
heavy compressed wood. 

The 3-inch full-range cones in 
the satellites deliver 10 watts per 
channel, so they’re not nearly as 
loud as the other speakers in this 
field. They do deliver punchy 
bass response, however, even 
without the subwoofer (Yamaha 
claims frequency response all the 
way down to 70Hz). The 6.5-inch 
speaker in the mag- 







netically 
shielded 
sub puts 
out 25 



v/atts, 

► 66 



ot AUG/SEPT 



96 



63 



FOR 

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H Y : SPEAKERS 



◄ 63 according to Yamaha, and 
delivers frequency response rang- 
ing from 35Hz to 250Hz. 

This is a very efficient system 
that delivers plenty of sound. 

The satellites have controls for 
volume (which also effects the 
sub) and “tone” (separate bass 
and treble controls would be 
welcomed). 

The satellites have two sets of 
stereo inputs— great for playing 
CDs on a Discman and CD-ROM 
games at the same time— and a 
front-mounted headphone output 
that automatically mutes the 
speakers when you plug in a set 
of phones. Nice touch. 

The sub has its own volume 
control plus a boost/cut switch 
that determines the frequency at 
which the crossover circuit kicks 
in. My biggest criticism of the 
subwoofer relates to its dome- 
shaped grille. It sticks out so far 
that I found myself constantly 
kicking it. 

Bass response is excellent, 
whether listening to the cacopho- 
ny of a pipe bomb taking out a 
stack of gas cylinders, or the 
thundering kick drum on joe 
Jackson’s “Down to London.” 




Yamaha YST System 45 



The Yamahas are brighter than 
most of the field, but they 
weren’t as present as the 
Cambridge. Their excellent 
midrange response brought to 
the fore a wonderful set of mili- 
tary tom-toms in the Wing Com- 
mander IV soundtrack that I had 
never heard before. They were 
equally adept at delivering Mark 
Hamill’s gravely tenor without 
turning the bar scene crowd 
noise into mush. 

If you’re looking for form as 
well as function, Yamaha’s YST 
System 45 should be your choice. 




mmsm 

; ; •: >x-x-:-x : : 

W:: : 



Duke’s offhanded remarks sound- 
ed particularly throaty through 
these speakers, and I could 
almost feel the recoil of his 
shotgun. 

The stereo separation while 
playing Wing Commander IV was 
spectacular. The dialog in the 
opening movie sequence was 



Advent AV570 



crisp and dear, and Maniac’s 



voice cut through the battle 



noise distinctly during the 



arcade sequences. 



An odd feature of the AV570’s 
is that each speaker has its own 
volume, bass, and treble controls: 



there is no master control. I 



found this to be a little awkward, 
particularly when the phone rang. 

As a reality check, I listened 
to several audio CDs. The crisp, 
present sound of Joe Jackson’s 
Blaze of Glory ms much more 
restrained here than it was on the 



Cambridge SoundWorks 



MicroWorks speakers, but the 



bass was much more subdued as 
well. If you can’t live without feel 



ing the bass in your gut, you 



might not be happy with these 



subwoofer-less wonders. 



I also noticed a little bass dis- 
tortion but was able to attenuate 
the bass control to eliminate the 
problem. The speakers han 
died the balance of 
, the sonic spectrum 

as well as Tori 
Amos’ dazzling 
^ piano work on 

1 Mle Earth - 

1 quakes, with 



Advent AV570 



PRICE: S399 



CONFIGURAT.IOr.'. Two satel- 
lites 

COMPANY: International 
Jensen 

800.323.0707 

www.adventaudio.com 



If you want full-range speakers 
but don’t want to sacrifice floor 
space to a subwoofer, there’s no 
better speaker than the Advent 
AV570. (If you really want to fill a 
room, the center-channel AV571 is 
also available.) 

Each wedge-shaped speaker 
houses its own 35-watt amp, 
which drives a 5-inch polypropy- 
lene woofer and a 1-inch fluid- 
filled polycarbonate tweeter. The 
speakers are heavily shielded, so 
they can be placed next to a 
video monitor. 

Mounting screws are built into 
the chassis, and stands are avail- 
able. Each speaker, with its alu- 
minum alloy chassis and amp, 
weighs nearly 10 pounds; any- 
thing you mount them to had 
better be strong. 

These are great speakers for 
kiosks and trade-show booths, 
because they automatically shut 
off after a few minutes of inactivi- 
ty (they automatically turn back 
on when an input signal is 
received). They’ll also run on DC, 
and Jensen offers a rechargeable 
battery. 

The Advents deliver plenty of 
punch; they’re very present and 
they’re plenty loud. 



66 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 




















mtiiM 



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BOOTWORTHY: SPEAKERS 



Exclusive: 



Hands-on Test 



Cambridge SoundWorks 
MicroWorks 

PR1C! $349 

CONFIGURATION: Two satel- 
lites, one subwoofer 
COMPAQ Cambridge 
SoundWorks 
PHQNi 800.367.4434 
www.hifi.com 





Of course, good s|eq 
decibels, and the l/li< 




I first heard these MicroWorks 
speakers while sitting in a San 
Francisco hotel room with Cam- 
bridge SoundWorks CEO Tom 
DeVesto. After a 15-minute listen, 
I knew I had to have them for 
this edition of bootWorthy. 

MicroWorks is something of a 
misnomer, because these enclo- 
sures are bigger (the subwoofer 
is considerably bigger) and much 
more powerful than other 
SoundWorks multimedia speak- 
ers. The two satellites are still 
relatively small, measuring 4 
inches high, 4 inches wide, and 
3 5/8 inches deep, but they offer 
relatively large 3-inch drivers. 

The subwoofer, on the other 
hand, is massive, measuring 17.5 
inches high, 9 inches wide, and 
8 inches deep. A large port in 
the middle of the cabinet vents 
air moved by its 6.5-inch long- 
throw bass driver. 

The satellites come with 
heavy gauge steel stands that 
attach to the back of the cabi- 
nets using standard tripod 
mounts. The stands ensure that 
sound is projected up at your 
ears, instead of your chest. 



If you don’t want the speak- 
ers on your desk, you can hang 
them on the wall using the pic- 
ture-frame mounts on the back 
panel. The heavy, compressed- 
wood subwoofer is best placed 
on the floor. 

MicroWorks features a 66-watt 
amp, divided into three channels 
and housed in the subwoofer 
cabinet. Master volume control is 
handled by an in-line volume 
control (a cabled thumbwheel). 



Stick some Velcro on the thumb- 




wheel and you can attach it to 
the side of your keyboard. A sep- 
arate control just for the sub 
enables you to attenuate the 
bass to your liking. 

I conducted a series of listen- 
ing tests with the MicroWorks, 
using both games and audio 
CDs. Even at low volume, the 
massive subwoofer delivered 
chest-thumpin’ bass in Duke 
Nukem 3D\ when I cranked the 
volume, the blasts from explod- 
ing RPGs rattled the windows 
and shook the floor. 

These babies deliver crystal- 
clear highs and-above all— 
they’re quiet, with almost no dis- 
tortion at any level. After all, 
when you advance on a wounded 
alien to deliver the coup de 
grace , you want to hear the 
gurgles and snorts of his pathetic 
death throes, not a bunch of hiss 
and noise. 

After logging a few hours of 
gameplay in Duke , Descent II, 
and a couple of other games, it 
was time to listen to audio CDs. 

I picked joe Jackson’s Blaze of 



more than ear-bleeding 
'Point. 



Glory specifically because the 
entire project was recorded and 
mastered in digital (most record- 
ings are processed through ana- 
log equipment at some stage 
before the CD is pressed). The 
speakers still delivered that 
chest-thumping bass, but the 
highs felt almost too bright, at 
least at high volume. After listen- 
ing to numerous CDs recorded in 
a more conventional fashion 
(including Steely Dan’s Aja, and 
Tori Amos’ Little Earthquakes), 

I’m convinced the anomaly with 
the jackson disc had more to do 
with the way the disc was record- 
ed than the speakers. In this 
case, the speakers’ ability to 
accurately reproduce the record- 
ing almost ended up being a lia- 
bility. Would I have it any other 
way? Absolutely not. 

Whether you need speakers 
for near-field monitoring or to 
fill a large conference room, Cam- 
bridge SoundWorks MicroWorks 
are a sound choice. 

— Michael Brown 



We don't just ASK _ 

the tough 

Questions 

We 9* ve ANSWERS 




5FY87 



tt 



The future of interactive entertainment. 



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• GROUND-BREAKING NEWS AND INFOR/MATION 
• COt MPLETE ANALySIS OF EVERy 
GA/ME PLATFOR/M 

• CANDID REVIEWS OF THE LATEST TITLES 




boot 

(previews ) 

HARDWARE 

ON THE HORIZON AND 
SOFTWARE SOON TO SHIP 




Sony jumps 
Into the PC Market 

Pretty cose ; little innovation 




— ( g Sl £ .* ) 92 



70 Sony PCV-70 P166, 
PCV-90 P200 

80 Fujitsu Monte Carlo, 
Montego Notebooks 

Tomb Raider 

The Outer Limits 
On-Line 

Star Trek Starfleet 
Academy 

Dark Earth 

The City of Lost 
Children 

StarCraft 
SimCopter 
Drowned God 
Unreal 

NBA Full Court Press 
Syn Factor 
Windows NT 4.0 



If this were 1986, Sony 
would be entering the mar- 
ket with a personal comput- 
er that would usher in a 
new era of computing. If 
this were 1986, Sony would 
challenge the Wintel 
monopoly with something 
new, something exciting, 
something inventive. 

But this is 1996, and 
Sony, after watching the 



Amiga, then the NeXT, and 
quite possibly the 
Macintosh crash and burn, 
is jumping into the personal 
computer market with an 
Intel-powered, Windows 95- 
driven system. 

OK, maybe it was too 
much to hope for. Maybe 
we shouldn’t be surprised 
that the owner of the most 
recognized consumer brand 
name in the world won’t 
rock the boat. At least 
they’re forgoing the tradi- 
tional boring beige case in 
favor of a custom-designed 
stylish purple and gray box. 

Inside the Box 
So what is the Sony PC? 

The company will initially 
ship two models: The PCV- 
70 will feature a 166MHz 
Pentium, 16MB of RAM, and 



a 2.1GB hard drive. The 
PCV-90 will feature a 
200MHz Pentium, 32MB of 
RAM, and a 2.5GB hard 
drive. The biggest surprise 
is the absence of a 
wavetable synthesizer in a 
computer designed by a 
company known for its 
audio products. Sound will 
be handled by Yamaha’s 
ancient OPL-3 FM chip on 
the motherboard. 

Both machines 
will offer 256k of 
pipeline burst cache, 
an 8x CD-ROM drive, 
a 28.8 DSVD 
modem, and a mas- 
sive software bundle. 
Video will be han- 
dled by an ATI 3D 
Rage chip with 2MB 
of video RAM on an 
Intel Agate mother- 
board (which Intel designed 
specifically for the form fac- 
tor of the Sony PC’s squat 
minitower case). The moth- 
erboard has three ISA slots, 
four PCI slots, and four 
SIMM sockets. The modem 
occupies one ISA slot; all 
the remaining slots are 
open, with one ISA/PCI slot 
shared. The motherboard 
and two open drive bays 
are accessed by removing a 
side panel-a better alterna- 
tive to removing the entire 
shell. The Agate mother- 
board looks clean, and in 
Sony’s case, all slots are 
readily accessible. 

Sony insisted on this 
form factor because it can 
house a variety of devices, 
ranging from VCRs to audio 
CD players, according to 
Tim Errington, senior vice 



president of sales and mar- 
keting for Sony Information 
Technologies of America. 
The gray and violet case, 
designed by Sony art direc- 
tor Teiyu Goto (who also 
designed the PlayStation) 
will feature a door that 
slides up and covers the 
CD-ROM and floppy drives. 

In a major departure for 
Sony, a second company’s 
logo will be displayed on 
the Sony PC’s case: The 
“Intel Inside” sticker will 
reassure consumers that the 
Sony PC is not a proprietary 
system, according to 
Errington. A third logo, this 
one belonging to Sony, will 
be embossed deeply into 
the front and both sides of 
the case: VAIO. (“We had to 
conduct a worldwide search 
to see which languages we 
were insulting people in,” 
says Errington.) The 
acronym stands for Video 
Audio Integrated Operation, 
but it also represents “the 
convergence of the analog 
and digital worlds (sine 
wave to the binary 
101010),” according to the 
company’s literature. 

People who can’t under- 
stand the complexities of 
Windows 95 will appreciate 
Sony’s VAIO Space, a shell 
that “works in harmony 
with Windows 95 and 
serves as an intuitive user 
interface to provide quick 
and easy access to the 
many key features of the 
Sony PC,” according to 
Sony. The rest of us will 
just say no to this unneces- 
sary handholding that 
among other things, sub- 




Access the Sony’s innards through this 
removable side paneL No tools necessary, 
it snaps on. 



70 • AUG/SEPT boot 





PREVIEWS 






nies, and television produc- 
tion companies— and now 
introducing its own PC— 
Sony intends to control a 
chunk of the production, 
distribution, and delivery of 
entertainment. 

Sony has also designed 
a new 15-inch Trinitron 
monitor, the $599 CPD- 
100VS, which will have 
stereo speakers built into 
its sides and a subwoofer 
in its base. Errington said a 
17-inch model is in the 
works, but that the compa- 
ny has run into some 
unexpected technical snags. 
The problem may be the 
low frequencies produced 
by the subwoofer are caus- 
ing the monitor’s aperture 
grille to vibrate. Errington 
seemed unaware that 
Nokia Display Products, a 
company that buys Trinitron 
tubes from Sony, had 
already solved this problem 
by isolating the subwoofer 
from the chassis. Nokia’s 
17-inch 447Xav monitor fea- 
tures stereo speakers and a 
subwoofer in its base. 

Sony expects its PC to 
be priced between $2,000 
and $3,000 when it ships in 
August. “We’re experiencing 
some pain realizing we 
can’t expect to command 
the Sony premium,’’ says 
Errington of the company’s 



The Sony PC will have an Intel Agate motherboard with three 
ISA and four PCI slots. Both audio and video circuitry will be 
on the motherboard. 



Sony’s VAIO Space wraps a 3D shell around Windows 95. 



man,” says Errington, “and 
say that focus groups would 
never have led to the devel- 
opment of such a product. 
But the Walkman was a mir- 
acle. Repeating that success 
would be very difficult.” 
Could it be that Sony 
has already forgotten how 
its PlayStation marched into 
the video game console 
market and pulled the rug 



to get involved with 
computers; otherwise, we 
could lose our leadership 
position.” 

Combine Sony’s actions 
during the past several 
years with its existing core 
businesses, and the compa- 
ny’s long-term goal 
becomes apparent. By 
acquiring record labels, film 
studios, software compa- 



jects you to MPEG commer- 
cials for Sony movies each 
time the computer starts up. 

The Thought Process 
For Sony, getting into the 
computer business was a 
foregone conclusion. The 
decision to manufacture a 
PC based on a foundation 
over which Sony basically 
exercises no control, howev- 
er, v/as excruciatingly diffi- 
cult, according to Errington. 

“That’s a cultural situa- 
tion that Sony is very 
unused to dealing with,” he 
says. “Literally having to go 
to Intel, a third-party manu- 
facturer of such size and 
importance, and asking 
them to help develop a 
product, that’s very unusual 
for us. There have been 
some speed bumps, as you 
might imagine.” 

Following an atypical 
strategy for Sony, the com- 
pany designed the Sony PC 
based not on what is tech- 
nologically feasible, but on 
the results of consumer 
focus groups conducted 
during the past year. 

‘Traditionalists within 
Sony point to the Walk- 



aggressive pricing. 

Sony plans to introduce 
a series of other products 
that can be used in con- 
junction with the PC, includ- 
ing a 100-disc CD-ROM 
changer, in the near future. 

Even if Sony won’t 
change the PC paradigm, 
maybe they’ll still produce a 
few cool peripherals. 

— Michael Brown 



AVAILABLE: AUGUST 1996 
PRICE S2.000 TO S3, 000 
COMPANY: SONY 
PHONE: 800.635.7669 
URL: WWW.SEL.SONY 
.COM/SEL/CCPG/PC 
/PCCONTENT. HTML 



Designed 
to accompany 
Sony’s new 
PCV-70 and 
PCV-90 personal 
computer, Sony's 
new CPD-100VS 
monitor will 
feature built-in 
stereo speakers 
with a 
subwoofer in 
its base. 



right out from under com- 
petitors Sega and Nintendo? 
Doesn’t the company see 
the same opportunity in 
the PC market? 

“In the classic PC mar- 
ket, probably not,” Erring- 
ton says. “Obviously, we’re 
late to market with this. 
What has driven us is the 
fact that this category has 
become such a significant 
chunk of consumer electron- 
ics sales. Consumer elec- 
tronics is our turf. We had 



bool AUG/SEPT • 71 








ERENCE m 

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Reverence... Invading your PC this September. 

Visit our web site at www.cyberdreams.com 




Reverence is a trademark of Cyberdreams, Inc. 

Cyberdreams is a registered trademark of Cyberdreams, Inc. 



Product Information Number 97 



PREVIEWS 




Tomb Raider 

The lady's packin' 



Look out folks, Lara Croft is 
coming. A hard-bitten cross 
between Indiana jones and 
Snake Plissken, Lara is a 
soldier of fortune who 
keeps both treasure and 
big game in her sights. 



In Eidos Interactive’s 
upcoming Tomb Raider ; 
Lara battles her way across 
the globe in search of the 
pieces to the ancient 
Atlantean Scion, a talisman 
of incredible power. Eidos 




The actual game looks nearly as good as the workstation-rendered 
art Huge underground complexes present no problem for our 
motion-captured protagonist 




might be at risk of raising 
the ire of the PC (as in 
Politically Correct) Police. In 
addition to blowing away 
human thugs and Atlantean 
bio-robots during her quest, 
Lara pumps lead into a 
number of bears, wolves, 
and other animals— not to 
mention raiding ancient 
burial sites. 

The game utilizes a sec- 
ond-person perspective (the 
camera looks over Lara’s 
shoulder), which allows the 
player to see both Lara’s 
actions and those of her 
on-screen enemies. Tomb 
Raider takes place in seven 
huge indoor and outdoor 
locales, ranging from the 
jungles of Cambodia to the 
deserts of Egypt. 



This prerendered promotional art shows off Lara Croft, Tomb 
RaideTs hard-bitten, testosterone-pumping heroine. It’s tempting 
to make a pun here about silicon, but we’ll pass. 



The graphics will be ren- 
dered on-the-fly, according 
to an Eidos representative, 
and so far, they look stun- 
ning. The character anima- 
tion uses a motion-capture 
technique for added realism. 
The game will run in either 
DOS or Windows 95, and 
Eidos says it will take 
advantage of the feature set 
in the 3Dfx Voodoo 
Graphics 3D chipset. Eidos 
is also considering support- 
ing Microsoft’s Direct3D API. 



With its lightning pace, 
extreme violence, pistol- 
packin’ protagonist, and 
huge, sprawling level 
design, Tomb Raider will 
have action-game lovers 
drooling. 

— Jeff Lundrigan 



AVAILABLE: TB A 
COMPANY: EIDOS 
INTERACTIVE 

PRICE: TB A 

PHONE: 415.693.0297 

URL WWW.DOMARK.COM 

















From the world leader in Windows graphics software 





graphic / 



CPRELO&fitf/ 



®m wkk 

Corel Print House”—' 
the best-selling 
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• Natural mcda brush 
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The Best in 32-Bit Graphics! gSSv 
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• Designed exclusively for Microsoft Windows ' 95 



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• State-of-the-art 32-bit CorelDRAW ,M graphics engine 

• Power, precision and 32-bit speed 

• Fully customizable user interface 

9 Multiple Document Interface (MDI) 

Incredible Value! 

9 Fully featured applications for illustration, photo-editing and 
bitmap creation, 3D rendering, animation and multimedia 
presentations 

• OLE 2.0 support, drag and drop between applications 
9 Industry-leading drawing, editing and text handling 

capabilities 



Corel' Graphics Pack 

The 32-Bit Wizard-Driven Total Graphics Solution! 

Easy to Use! 

0 All-in-one graphics solution! 

* Ideal for graphics, presentations, photo touch-ups, 3D 
graphics, charts and diagrams, space planning, family trees, 
stationery, calendars, home page creation, greeting cards and 
much more! 

9 Wizard-style user interface 
9 Step-by-step help file 

• Choose from over 50 tasks 

Powerful! 

w State-of-the-art 32-bit Corel graphics engine 

*> 32-bit power and precision Requires 



Corel Print House" 

The Easy All-In-One Graphics Powerhouse! 

Incredible Value! 

9 5,000 stunning clipart images 
9 1,000 catchy phrases 
• 1,000 fantastic photos 
9 1,000+ professionally designed and easy-to-use samples 
9 100+ top-quality fonts 
Plus: For Windows 3.1 x and Windows * 95 users 
9 AT&T WorldNet Service 1 software including 
Netscape Navigator ’ Internet browser 



Runs on Windows* 3.1x, 
Windows’ 95 and Windows NT’** 



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Enter the Corel S3, 000, 000 World Design Contest! (September 95 to July ’96) 



Product Information Number 95 



To receive a (axed copy ot the contest rules and an entry form, please call: 
1-613-728-0826, ext. 3080, Document # 1125. To leave a message: 
1-613-728-0826, ext. 81609. To send a tax: 1-613-728-2891. 

-(Telecommunication and other charges may apply depending on usage and location. 

Corel, CorelDRAW and Corel Print House are either trademarks or registered 
trademarks ot Corel Corporation in Canada, the United States and/or other 
countries. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or 
trademarks ot Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. 
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trademark of Netscape Communications Corp. 



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PREVIEWS 




The Outer 

it's a battle of thousands... 



Fans of the 1960s television 
series The Outer Limits 
have two reasons to be 
excited: MG M Television 
has resuscitated the TV 
show, and MGM Interactive 
is launching The Outer 
Limits On-Line. 



An ambitious, role-play- 
ing adventure game target- 
ing sci-fi and mystery enthu- 
siasts, Outer Limits will 
offer multiuser online gam- 
ing for more than 5,000 
players simultaneously. 
Gamers will assume a holo- 
graphic character, an 
avatar, to travel through 
a 3D virtual universe to 
battle renegade androids 
and save the human race. 
Players can keep the same 
character for hours, 
months, or years, and can 
go it solo or join other 
players in real time to 
battle, trade, or travel. 

“There isn’t anything to 
compete with it,” says Ron 
Frankel, executive vice pres- 




The game will support more 
than 5,000 online gamers. 



Limits On-Line 




The Outer Limits? virtual environment has 3D-rendered and polygon- 
based, real-time graphics. 



ident and general manager 
of MGM Interactive. “It will 
have a rich graphics envi- 
ronment, audio and textual 
communication, and un- 
matched online play.” The 
audio component is current- 
ly in design, and avatar 
pioneer Worlds Inc. is de- 
veloping a proprietary 3D 
engine that won’t require 
players to have a 3D graph- 
ics accelerator card, accord- 
ing to Frankel. But they 
will need at least a P75 
with 16MB of RAM, Win 95 
or NT, a SVGA card, a 
sound card, and a 
28.8Kbps modem to com- 
pete in the virtual environ- 
ment made with a combi- 
nation of 3D-rendered and 



polygon-based, real-time 
graphics. 

MGM expects to release 
Outer Limits in the first 
quarter of 1997. 

— Angela LoSasso 



AVAILABLE: FIRST 
QUARTER 1997 

PRICE: TBA 

COMPANY: MGM INTER- 
ACTIVE 

PHONE: 800.646.5808 
URL: WWW.MGMUA.COM 






Where’s Waldo? Exploring Geography ©1996 Warner Music Pilots. Inc. Where’s Waldo? 
©1996 Martin Handford. A WarnerActiye title Published by Inscape. All rights reserved. 



For nearest dealer call: I -800-MY-DEALER 
or Visit Us On The Web: 
http://www.warneractive.com 






to the Preceding Questions... 

ASK YOUR KID/ 

Waldo is going to show your child where in the world the 
fun is with "Where’s Waldo? Exploring Geography.” Along 
the way, kids discover the people and places of our world 
while developing problem-solving and critical thinking 
skills. In this exciting CD-ROM adventure, kids 5-12 
search for missing athletes so they can help Waldo save 
the Wacky Worldwide Games. "Where’s Waldo? 

Exploring Geography” lets 
children— and parents— learn 
more about the world around 
them. Including what the 
capital of Norway is. 

Product Information Number 97 



UWIHUIIOH! 
Warnendctoe -- L - UTS 








PREVIEWS 







Your Academy 
training takes place 
at Starfleet headquar- 
ters in San Francisco. 



Star Trek 

Starfleet Academy 

Take the Enterprise for a Spin 



Starfleet Academy missions let you take the Starship Enterprise into battle 
against 30 alien spaceships, including this Bird of Prey. 



You have an arsenal at your disposal, including photon torpedoes 
and pinpoint-accurate phasers like this one. 

you’ll see a red trail of 



If you want to 
fly, you should 
seriously consider 
finding a tutor. 

Fortunately, 

Starfleet Academy 
has the best: 

Kirk, Sulu, and 
Chekov. The 
three also offer 
guidance and 
support as you 
tackle simulated 
missions, sub- 
plots, and politi- 
cal situations. 

“They might even 
take you under 
their wing, espe- 
cially if you’re 
one of the top 
students,” says Buchert. 

Leadership training is 
set in the bridge simulator, 
where you’ll take your team 
into battle against more 
than 30 alien ships and 
scenarios. “We’ve included 
scenarios from the original 
television show and movies, 
such as the Kobiayashi 
Maru, which only Kirk had 
successfully completed— 
and he cheated," Buchert 
says. “We have other clas- 
sic encounters such as the 
‘Balance of Terror’ episode, 
which was the [Federation’s] 
first encounter with the Ro- 
mulans, and the Wrath of 
Khan, with some cat and 

“They just don’t 
want to blow 
up things, they 
want to go after 
a Klingon 
commander.” 



mouse fighting around the 
nebula.” Buchert estimates 
there will be between 20 
and 40 hours of gameplay, 
and an even longer life 
span with the eight-player 
network capabilities. “Com- 
bat is different every time,” 
Buchert says. “You won’t 
see the same thing twice.” 
Action takes place in 
real time with 640x480 3D 
graphics and real-time color 
light sourcing. “If a red pho- 
ton shoots over a ship, 



light,” Buchert says. No 
extra hardware is required, 
but the game will support 
all major 3D accelerators. 

Starfleet Academy is 
expected to be released by 
year’s end. 

— Angela LoSasso 

AVAILABLE: FOURTH 
QUARTER 1996 

PRICE: TB A 
COMPANY: INTERPLAY 
PHONE: 800.969.4263 
URL: WWW.INTERPLAY.COM 



In addition to the flight sim, you’ll spend time in the lab learning 
the finer points of system diagnostics. Where’s Scotty when you 
need him? 



If you’re a closet Trekker, 
meaning you’re not the 
type to go to a Star Trek 
convention to kiss William 
Shatner’s feet, perhaps you 
prefer to act out your final 
frontier fantasies behind the 
privacy of closed doors. 
Starfleet Academy will obvi- 
ously attract the die-hard 
Trekker, but Interplay is 
really designing the game 



for the rest of us: normal 
people who lust to com- 
mand the Enterprise. 

“ Starfleet Academy is a 
flight sim for people who 
have always wanted to 
command a ship and do 
things that Starfleet would- 
n’t allow,” says Rusty 
Buchert, the game’s produc- 



er. “They just don’t want 
to blow up things, they 
want to go after a Klingon 
commander.” 

In real life, you have to 
take lessons and get the 
coveted driver’s license 
before you borrow dad’s 
car. The same holds true for 
Starfleet: Before you take a 
Starship out for an inter- 
galactic spin, you better hit 
the Academy books. 

Your goal as a 
cadet is to complete 
27 missions and 
graduate. Your class 
rank (whether you 
graduate first, sec- 
ond, etc.) depends 
on what decisions 
you make during 
the game. Just as 
graduating magna cum 
laude from Harvard can 
have a positive effect on 
your job prospects, your 
Academy performance 
decides your Starfleet 
future. “There are three 
endings, including one that 
allows you to fly your own 
ship,” Buchert says. 



Leadership training is focused around the 
bridge, where you lead your crew against 
Klingons, Romulans, and other aliens. 



76 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 







You’re coach, player and general manager of an NFL team. 
Better kick ass if you want to protect your assets. 




For Windows 95 and DOS CD-ROM. 

http://www.philipsgames.com 



0 PHILIPS 



The NFL Shield design is a registered trademark of the National Football League. 



© 1996 Philips Media, a division of Philips Electronics North America Corporation. 



Product Information Number 112 







sy^j 



Dark Earth 

Combining the best^breeds 



Dark Earth exhibits the 
potential to be an incredibly 
fun game and a visual won- 
der. l/l/e pinned down Kevin 
Bach us, Mindscape’s inter- 
national development man- 
ager, and made him spill his 
guts about what makes 
Dark Earth so special. 

boot: Why is this title so 
special and secretive? 

Bachus: Dark Earth is the 
most expensive project 
we’ve ever done and most 
of that is the R&D costs 
associated with developing 
the technologies that are 
in the product. It’s not a 
flashy interactive movie— we 
don’t have big name actors 
and sets. It’s actually asso- 
ciated with programmers 
and artists putting time into 
the project. 



boot: What is the game’s 
premise? 

Bachus: The idea is fairly 
simple. Somewhere in the 
near future a comet passes 
very close to Earth and 
fragments of the comet 
strike the planet, kicking up 
billowing clouds of dirt into 
the atmosphere. We flash 
forward 300 years to where 
the game takes place. There 
are certain spots on Earth 
where light comes through, 
and it’s always the same 
spot. People build civiliza- 
tions at these locations and 
don’t travel outside of them 
because there are rumors of 
creatures scavenging in the 
dark areas. 

boot: What about gameplay? 

Bachus: As a character 
named Arkhan, you are the 



Dark Earth features highly detailed 3D backgrounds created with Softimage and 3D Studio. 



A variety of combat sequences, such as sword and fistfights, are 
mixed into the adventure. 



This adventure/action game is the first in a series that are set in the 
Earth universe. 



The animation of the game’s 80 characters incorporates motion 
capture technology, which gives them a creepy sense of realism. 



ter fully 3D rendered on the 
fly, texture mapped, shaded 
with shadow casting — 
remember light and dark- 
ness are very important. It 
looks and plays a bit like 
Resident Evil, except we’re 
doing everything on the fly 
with complex shadows and 
things like that. We are also 
doing motion capture, so 
that every character will 
have 200 movements. We 
are looking into 3D hard- 
ware acceleration. Each 
character has between 200 
and 500 different polygons, 
but it’s being done in such 
a way that it can go higher 
when accelerated. 

boot: It sounds like’Va fix- 
ture of game genres.,?' 

Bachus: It’s an adventure/ 
action game. There’s com- 
bat, and we hope the com- 
bat will be as compelling as 



the adventure game. In 
other words, that both will 
be best of breeds. One of 
the things we are still work- 
ing on is play balancing to 
make sure that’s right. 

boot: How are you balanc- 
ing that? 

Bachus: Frankly, I don’t 
know. That’s part of the 
process— going through 
play testing, working with 
different gamers, and trying 
different methods so that 
it's satisfying. Hopefully, it 
will be one of the first 
games to successfully inte- 
grate adventure and action. 

— Doug Lombardi 



AVAILABLE: MARCH 1997 
PRICE: $50 (ESTIMATED) 
COMPANY: MINDSCAPE 
PHONE: 800.234.3088 
URL: WWW.MINDSCAPE.COM 



protector of the ruling com- 
mittee. In the middle of a 
meeting there is an attack, 
and you are poisoned. Over 
the coming hours and days 
you transform into some- 
thing that is not good. It’s 
a story of survival. You 
have to find out what has 
happened to you and how 
to reverse it. In the process, 
you find out what the meet- 
ing was about, why the 
attack came, who these 
people were, and you 
uncover a lot about the 
secret mystery of Dark 
Earth— [he underlying con- 
cepts. It’s more than light 
is good and dark is bad, 
it’s more like light is life 
and darkness is death. 

Death isn’t necessarily bad. 
It’s inevitable. 



Dark 



boot: What’s 
happening in 
the code to 
deliver the look 
and play? 
Bachus: 

Technologically, 
the game is 
quite astonish- 
ing. It has ren- 
dered back- 
grounds and a 
lot of different 
characters. You 
see your charac- 



78 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 




PREVIEWS 



The City of Lost 

Tres fantastique 



Psygnosis is transforming 
the work of French film- 
makers Jean-Pierre jeunet 
and Marc Caro into a surre- 
al, non-violent 3D adven- 
ture game. 



Caro is providing artistic 
direction for the game ver- 
sion of The City of Lost 
Children, which follows a 
similar plot to the film. A 
nefarious scientist named 




The City of Lost Childrens graphics aim to recreate the surreal and 
gloomy world of the retro-futuristic city depicted in the film. 




Children 



All of City s characters are 
fully motion captured. 



Krank who lacks the ability 
to dream, and is therefore 
aging prematurely, is kid- 
napping children so he 
can tap into their dreams. 
You’ll play the role of 
Miette, a street-wise little 
orphan girl, who joins 
forces with a circus strong- 
man named One to stop 
Krank by solving a series of 
puzzles and riddles. 

Psygnosis is relying on 
Caro to help the graphics 
team reproduce the film’s 
grand scale and complex 
visual style. The retro-futur- 
istic imaginary city is being 
rendered and texture 
mapped in 3D. All the 
backdrops will be interac- 
tive, and the game will fea- 



ture impres- 
sive lighting 
effects, real- 
time shad- 
ows, and elegant textures. 
Achieving quality graphics 
has been of paramount 
importance during the 
game’s development, 
according to producer 
Carole Faure, who says, 

“The idea was to get a 3D 
game without a 3D look.” 
The game’s designers 
are using motion-capture 
technology to ensure that 
the more than 20 characters 
will look and move realisti- 
cally. Accurately producing 
the movement of the wick- 
ed Siamese twins (known 
as The Octopus) who run 



The evil Siamese twins who run 
the orphanage are just one of 
Miette’s challenges. 

the orphanage is particular- 
ly challenging, according to 
Faure, because they must 
combine the models of two 
different people. 

Psygnosis expects to 
ship The City of Lost 
Children in December. 

— Ingrid Bush 



AVAILABLE: WINTER 96 
PRICE: TB A 
COMPANY: PSYGNOSIS 
PHONE: 800.438.7794 
URL: WWW.PSYGNOSIS.COM 




“Su-27 FLANKER is a must-own 
for serious PC flight junkies. ” 

— PC Entertainment & 

“Su-27 is without qualification the most 
realistic modern-day air combat simulation 
on the market.” c , , 

— Strategy Plus 



SU-27 FLANKER is a 
trademark of The 
Fighter Collection. 
©1996 Strategic 
Simulations, Inc., a 
MindscapO Company. 
All rights reserved. 



SPECIAL OFFER (or Su-27 Win 95 
owners! Call SSI Customer Service 
at (408) 737-6800 for details. 






— 



Product Information Number 120 







Fujitsu Notebook 
Series 

The European plan 



Fujitsu is mounting its first 
assault on the U.S. comput- 
er market with a new line of 
Pentium-powered notebook 
computers named after... 
famous European cities? Oh, 
give ’em a break. When was 
the last time you bought a 
car that had a name like the 
F3500-XMV? 

The top-of-the-line 
Monte Carlo (priced from 
$3,199 to $5,199, depending 
on options) is designed for 
multimedia applications. 
Fujitsu differentiates this 
laptop from the pack by 
allowing you to install both 
a 3.5-inch floppy drive and 
a CD-ROM drive at the same 



time. Alternatively, you can 
remove the floppy drive 
and install a second lithium 
ion battery in its place to 
get up to a projected six 
hours of use. Another cool 
feature is the LCD status 
panel, which reports on bat- 
tery life even when the 
notebook is closed. 

Other than those tweaks, 
the Monte Carlo sounds like 
any number of other Pentium 
laptops. Processor speeds 
will range from 100MHz to 
133MHz, with 256k of L2 
cache, 8MB to 16MB of RAM, 
a 1GB hard drive, a 6x CD- 
ROM drive, stereo speakers, 
and a 12.1-inch active-matrix 



display. Fujitsu’s own 
28.8Kbps PC-card fax/ 
modem is also included. 
Models with 8MB of factory 
RAM can be expanded to 
40MB, and 16MB models to 
48MB. The Monte Carlo will 
tip the scales at 7.3 pounds. 

The 4.9-pound Montego 
is designed more for porta- 
bility. Priced at $3,199, the 
Montego will feature a 
100MHz Pentium, 8MB of 
RAM expandable to 40MB, 
and a 10.4-inch display. 

Like the Monte Carlo, the 
Montego’s floppy drive can 
be replaced by a second 
battery. The machine will 
not include a CD-ROM drive, 
however, and it will have 
only one speaker. 

Fujitsu describes the 
Milan line as its “value” 




product. 

Equipped 
with a 
100MHz 
Pentium, 8MB 
of RAM, an 
810MB hard drive, 
and a 10.4-inch dual- 
scan display, the Milan 
will sell for $2,199. When 



Fujitsu’s Monte 
Carlo line will 
feature a num- 
ber of multime- 
dia bells and 
whistles. 



fully tricked out with a 
133MHz Pentium, 16MB of 
RAM, 1GB hard drive, and 
an 11.3-inch active matrix 
display, the cost jumps to 
$3,999. 

No doubt Fujitsu is look- 
ing for the tasty profit mar- 
gins this market segment 
offers. With Hitachi jumping 
into the pond at the same 
time— and Compaq prepar- 



ing to ship the first con- 
sumer laptop— fat margins 
might not be the norm for 
long. And that’s great news 
for buyers. 

- Michael Brown 

AVAILABLE: NOW 
PRICE: $2,199 TO $5,199 
COMPANY: FUJITSU 
PERSONAL COMPUTER CO. 
PHONE: 408.935.8800 
URL: WWW.FUJITSU.COM 




NEW LINKS LS: TOUR WITH THE LEGENDS IN SPORTS 





What’s New About Links LS? Every Leaf, Every Contour, Every Chirp... 



...Up to 16.7 Million 
Colors- New Links LS 
has unlimited screen reso- 
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million colors — resolu- 
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that Links LS can match 
any monitor’s maximum 
viewing capabilities (even 
1600x1200 and higher) 
and up to 16.7 million 
colors means the finest in 
color quality possible. 
You’ve simply never seen 
any golf simulation soft- 
ware this good! 



Features include neiv Post-Shot Reactions and Multiple Views! 



...Arnold Palmer- Arnold Palmer at 
Latrobe — the first in our Tour Player 
Series, delivers far more than 1 8 holes of 
golf. The Arnold Palmer experience 
includes a virtual reality tour of 
Amies workshop, office and tro- 
phy room. Roam freely in 360 
degrees and examine the tools 
of the trade behind the legend. 

Listen to Mr. Palmer give insights 
and recollections about his PGA and Senior 
PGA tours through Access Software’s exclusive 
multimedia footage. Then tee off as or against 
the digitized Arnold Palmer, who not only looks 
& sounds exactly like Arnic, but plays with the 
same style and tenacity that defined the Legendary 
Grand Master of Golf 



...The Most Realistic Golf Simulation EVER- The totally new terrain rendering engine and ball 
flight give Links LS a realism never before achieved in the gaming industry. As Links has always 
done, we render not just the hole itself but the entire course and more — you literally can hit your 
ball a half-mile out of bounds! Now, authentic ground, sand, and grass textures combine with 
dynamic shadows and fog, to give you a course so lifelike you can almost feel the wet grass! Our 
engineers have reworked the ball dynamics giving you true-to-life ball flight. Fade your drive just 
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...KapalUfr- Resting on the wind-swept plains of the 
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vegetation. 

For more info, call 1-800-800-4880 




PREVIEWS 




StarCraft 




Sci-fi spin on this year's biggest game 



Be warned: StarCraft is on 
its way. It’s the sci-fi variant 
of its medieval cousin War 
Craft II: Tides of Darkness, 
which has caused more 
domestic squabbles than 
any other game (with the 
possible exception of 
Monday Night Footbalt). 



Aside from being set in 
outer space, StarCraft has 
a number of improvements 
over its earthly predecessor. 
“It’s different in that it 
evolves at different times,” 
says Bill Roper, director of 
third party development at 
Blizzard Entertainment. “If 




StarCraft is just one of the games to be featured on Blizzard’s 
upcoming battle.net Internet gaming service. 



you play through each of 
the species in order, a huge 
epic unfolds.” 

There are three species: 
the humanoid Terrans, 
the biological alien Zurgs, 
and the technologically 
advanced Protos. Each 
species is being rendered 
with fluid movement model- 
ing that takes into account 
physics and provides for 
a more realistic feel. And, 
of course, each race has 
its own special strategies 
and strengths. 

Like its predecessor, 
StarCraft s real buzz should 
be found in multiplayer 
games. Up to eight players 
can compete over a LAN 
or via Blizzard’s own 




The graphics in the pre-alpha version of 
StarCraft are reminiscent of those in WarCraft 
II. Blizzard is reworking the graphics, however, 
to match the quality in this conceptual image . 



Internet-based gaming 
service, battle.net, which 
will be offered free to 
StarCraft owners. 

in alpha, StarCraft had 
30 different missions and 
is likely to have as many 
as 40 when it is released 
late this fall. Perhaps by 
then, we’ll all be over 
WarCraft II and ready for 
a new favorite. 

— Doug Lombardi 



AVAILABLE: WINTER 1996 
PRICE $50 (ESTIMATED) 
COMPANY: BLIZZARD 
ENTERTAINMENT 
PHONE: 800.953.7669 
URL: WWW. BLIZZARD 
.COM 




\ 



/ 



THE PANDORA DIRECTIVE: PLAY IT AGAIN, AND AGAIN... 






Tex Murphy returns in the most replayable interactive movie ever made! 



An Enormous Six-CD Cinematic Epic! 



The Story- What is the truth behind 
the rumored UFO crash at 
Roswell, New Mexico? Why 
did the military suddenly shut 
down and seal off the 
Roswell complex? And 
why the frequent refer- 
ences to the lost Mayan 
civilization? It starts out 
like a hundred other 
cases. $500 a day (plus 
expenses) to track down a 
missing person. As you 
pick up Thomas Malloys trail, 
you realize you’re not the only one 
looking for him. By the time you dis- 
cover mat he’s ex-military and knows 
what really happened on July 6, 1947, 
it’s too late. The government’s biggest 
secret is loose and you’re trapped in a 
deadly game of cat and mouse with 
the most powerful and ruthless 
agency in the world. Based on the 
novel by Aaron Conners. 



The Features- The most rcplayabil- 
ity of any interactive movie to date! 
Follow one of three narrative paths lead 
ing to seven different endings. Choose 
between two levels of play. 
The first level offers a 
complete on-line hint 
system to help you 
through the 
tougher puzzles. 

The second level — 
for expert gamers — 
has no hints available, 
but rewards players with high- 
er bonus points, extra puzzles 
and locations. Our unique 
“Virtual World” engine allows you 
to slip under desks, rifle through 
drawers, and see the flies tanning in 
the light fixtures. Without the 
restrictions of rendered paths, you 
can explore Tex’s three-dimensional 
world with full freedom of movc- 



Thc Cast- Enjoy the difference 
Hollywood cinematography, 
acting, editing, stunt work, 
music, and direction make as 
the world of Tex Murphy 
becomes amazingly real. 

Starring Barry Corbin 
{Northern Exposure, War 
Games), Tanya Roberts 
( View to a Kill, 
Beastmaster), Kevin 
McCarthy {Invasion of the 
Body Snatchers, Just Cause), 
and Chris Jones {Under a 
Killing Moon, Martian 
Memorandum, Mean Streets) 
as Tex Murphy. Directed by 
Adrian Carr {Quigly Down 
Under, Man from Snowy 
River, The Power Rangers). 
Original music by Richie 
Havens and Nicole 
Tindall. 
For more info, call 
1-800-800-4880 



Product Information Number 81 









S/^J 



SimCopter 

Think of it as a 3D browser 
for Sim City... with a mission 



We talked to Will Wright, 
co founder of Maxis, creator 
of SimCity, and head game 
designer, about SimCopter, 
his latest contribution to 
the mania that is SimCity. 

boot: First off, Will, what’s 
SimCopter like? 

Wright: Well, you’re flying a 
helicopter and doing a lot 
of urban rescue missions, 
things like putting out fires, 
or rescuing people, or chas- 
ing criminals, or doing 
medivac. So it’s a mission- 
oriented civilian flight simu- 
lator, plus you can actually 
import cities from SimCity 
so you fly around the cities 
that you’ve built in 3D. 

boot: How did you come up 
with the idea for SimCopter? 

Wright: We had always 
tossed around the idea of a 
3D SimCity , a more immer- 
sive 3D environment. I 
thought, well, how would I 
like to experience my 
SimCities in 3D? It came 



Effects such as fog can be pulled in for slower machines and pushed out for faster processors, effec- 
tively reducing background rendering to maintain smooth frame rates. 



down to: I’d like to have a 
helicopter to fly around in. 
Helicopters have always 
fascinated me. They’re so 
unlikely. I heard a funny 
quote once, “A helicopter 
is a very loose collection 
of very dissimilar parts fly- 
ing in close formation.” 

It’s just amazing that they 
work at all. 

boot: Who are you gearing 
the title toward? 

Wright: People who like 
SimCity, and are intrigued 
by the idea of flying around 
it in 3D, could just ignore 
the mission and load in 
cities and use SimCopter as 
a 3D browser. At the same 
time, I’m trying to attract 
people who are normally 
into 3D flight sim games. 
Maybe they’ll play this and 
want to buy SimCity as a 
game editor. Both games 
are very true gaming experi- 
ences. You create this thing 
in one game, and then have 
a very different experience 



SimCopter features a variety of different urban missions set in your very own SimCity (and those pro- 
vided with SimCoptei ) , such as aerial firefighting. Somebody must have skimped on fire department 
funding. 



boot: Does the game sport 
any online or multiplayer 
connections? 

Wright: No. It would be 
really fun if you were all 
playing in the same city and 
the city was on the server; 
and we are doing a SimCity 
multiplayer online, so the 
possibility is there. It really 
is more a matter of timing: 
Can we make Christmas 
with it? Probably not. 

boot: Does the game sup- 
port any special controllers? 

Wright: We’re using 
Directlnput from Microsoft, 
so just about everything 
should be supported to 
some degree. And we’re 
allowing the user to remap 
all the controls however 
they want. So if you have 
a fancy joystick with 48 
buttons, you should be 
able to map most of the 
game functions into it. 

boot: Forty-eight buttons? 

I think that’s called a “key- 
board.” 

Wright: [laughs] Yes! 

boot: How about 3D graph- 
ics cards? 

Wright: We’re looking at 
plugging in the Direct3D 
API at bottom level, which 
would then support some 



with the same data in the 
other game. You import 
your city, it’ll actually look 
at a profile of your city, the 
crime and whatnot, and the 
missions you get will be 
based on what you were 
doing badly in SimCity. It’s 
going to ship with quite a 
few prebuilt cities as the 
levels that you advance 
through in the career game. 
So you’ll start with a very 
small city and once you’ve 
accomplished enough mis- 
sions, you’ll graduate to the 
next level city, and the mis- 
sions will get harder and 
happen a lot more often. 



boot: What are some of the 
title’s standout features? 

Wright: We had to simulate 
an entire city at a much 
more granular level of detail 
so you could actually fly 
down, land on the street, 
get out and walk around. 

To take SimCity, this sort 
of stand back, abstract 
thing, with little blocks for 
buildings, and all of a sud- 
den we’re down on the 
street level watching people 
walk by and cars stop at 
crosswalks. That’s been fun 
for me. 

boot: It sounds incredibly 
ambitious from a program- 
ming standpoint. 

Wright: It is, but we’re actu- 
ally leaning on a couple of 
other games that are using 
similar technologies, so 
some of the code that 
we’re using, like for 
instance, to simulate the 
people, is actually coming 
out in another game. It’s 
only in development. It 
doesn’t even have a title 
now. But it involves people 
walking around. 

boot: That sounds like a 
pretty exciting game. 

Wright: [laughs] Yeah! 
SimPeople walking around 
game. 



82 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 





PREVIEWS 



cards. However we’ve been 
doing internal testing, and 
the results have been really 
disappointing. We’re talking 
nowhere near a factor of 
two times up, more like 20 
to 30 percent when you 
look at the overall through- 
put. It looks to me like 
it’s a much more likely pro- 
position that we’ll all be 
upgrading to P6s, running 
three times faster on that 
P6, before these 3D cards 
catch up. I’m hoping they 
get the stuff sorted out, 
but right now it’s not 
happening as fast as every- 
one would’ve expected a 
year ago. As it is, we’re 
simulating so much of the 
city and cars and whatnot 
that our rendering engine 
is only taking about maybe 
35 percent or 45 percent 
of the time. So even if 
we double our entire ren- 



dering engine, it’s only 
going to make the actual 
game maybe 35 or 25 
percent faster. Most flight 
simulators have a fairly 
static environment that 
you’re flying through, so 
most of the time is spent 
rendering. In ours, we 
have a pretty dynamic 
environment going on 
underneath you. 

boot: Will the city evolve 
as you’re flying around? 

Wright: The buildings won’t. 
Because the time scale is 
so radically different you 
won’t see buildings pop- 
ping up or down, but there 
will be the traffic model 
running and, of course, 
things like fires will be 
simulated. Really, it’s more 
destruction than creation. 

If you load in your own 
city, play around in it and 



“A helicopter is a very loose 
collection of very dissimilar parts 
flying in close formation.” 




You must land on the roof of the hospital while performing medi- 
vac missions in SimCopter. 



This is the first time you've ever been able to see the skyline of 
your grand SimCity metropolis at night And in 3D too! 



Breaking out above the cloud cover in SimCopter reveals the 
splendor of the night sky. 



things burn down, when 
you stop and save the file, 
you’ll have to go back into 
SimCity and rebuild it. 

boot: What are the graphics 
like? 

Wright: It’s almost all poly- 
gon-based. We have special 
Tenderers for certain things 
and effects. Our people Ten- 
derer is special. We wrote it 
because it wouldn’t be fast 
enough to do with poly- 
gons, and special effects 
like fog and smoke and fire 
and stuff like that need spe- 
cial Tenderers. 

boot: How does the new 
title handle sound? 

Wright: Well I’m hoping to 
use 3D sound, although I 
can’t really say for sure, but 
it’s going to come down to 
CPU requirements. We’re at 
the low level using Direct- 
Sound. The sampling rate is 
going to come down to per- 
formance tuning. The music 
is all WAV files. We’re going 
to put an FM radio in the 
helicopter so you can select 
which radio station you 
want to listen to. Plus, 
you’ll hear commercials 
and bulletins every now 
and then. 

boot: What’s the hook that 
will keep people playing? 

Wright: Tie Fighter had this 
really nice blend of strategy 
and tactics. You could be 
great tactically, but if you 
didn’t think strategically, 
you’d lose every time. So it 



has this cool learning curve, 
where you get the tactics 
down first, and then you 
start zooming out and look- 
ing at strategy. And that’s 
exactly what I’m trying to 
get into this game. First you 
figure out how to fly the 
helicopter without crashing 
into the side of a building, 
then it’s “how can I pick up 
a person?” or put out a fire. 
And then the next level is 



when five missions are com- 
ing in all at once. Certain 
missions, if you don’t deal 
with them, will spawn other 
missions. So, if I don’t put 
out a fire soon enough, I’ll 
have people stranded on 
top of a burning building 
that I’ll have to rescue. It’s 
that learning curve, from 
incremental tactics up to 
grand strategy, that I want 
to hook the player with. 






The barren area to the right is where your SimCity ends. You can 
fly over it, but the map is a globe, so flying off one end of the 
game field takes you back onto the opposite end. 



SimCopter has three different views: cockpit, chase, and above. 
The above view is particularly useful for targeting water drops and 
for landing. 



boot: What’s your target 
release date? 

Wright: All I can say is we 
better make Christmas. 
We’re still programming. I’d 
call it an alpha right now. 
Really what it’s lacking are 
all the missions. But the 3D 
engine is close to done and 
the interface is coming 
together very quickly. 

AVAILABLE: CHRISTMAS ’96 
PRICE. TB A 
COMPANY: MAXIS 
PHONE: 800.336.2947 
URL WWW.MAXIS.COM 
/PRO DUCTS/SIM COPTER 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 83 





PREVIEWS 




s/^-j 






Drowned God 



The truth is out there 



Inscape's game 
explores the theory 
that God is an alien. 






Some puzzles will be musically oriented. The game will feature * 
soundtrack by the British ambient band Miasma. 



“The relics you’re 
searching for are 
not what you 
think they are.” 



possesses it could change 
the balance of power.” 

Drowned God will fea- 
ture a number of puzzles, 
but the game’s environment 
won’t be a sterile, unpeo- 
pled world in the tradition 
of Myst. Artists are develop- 
ing 15 human and alien 
characters, including repre- 
sentations of famous 
thinkers such as Isaac 
Newton and Albert Einstein, 
who will reveal how the 
true history of the world 
has been suppressed. 

The game’s title is 
drawn from one of the 
legends central to the 
game’s plot, according to 
Home. "It’s almost a pun 
on the lost continent of 
Atlantis,” he says. "The 
Book of Genesis describes 
Atlantis as being the home 
of the sons of God. The god 
in the title is the Egyptian 
god Osiris. Osiris’ brother, 
Set, sealed him in- a casket 
and put him out to sea \ 
to drown.” 



Horne is a bit of a puz- 
zle himself. It’s difficult to 
tell whether he believes in 
these legends, or if he’s 
just having a laugh. He 
hands out business cards, 
for example, that identify 
him as Harry Horse. He says 
he took on the assumed 
name because of a scam he 
pulled in 1983. 

Writing under the name 
Enroh Drachir (Richard 
Horne spelled backward), 
Horne produced a 12-vol- 
ume set of books chroni- 
cling the history of Atlantis. 
He aged the books to 
resemble 19th-century man- 
uscripts and then sold them 



to an Edinburgh antique 
dealer. The dealer, accord- 
ing to Horne, decided they 
were the work of a minor 
poet and Dickens contem- 
porary— who also happened 
to be named Richard Horne. 

The modern Horne did 
nothing to correct this 
assumption, but his artifice 
was exposed when the deal- 
er resold the books to 
Christy’s auction house. "I 
was caught out,” he says. 
"But because I was only 23, 
and because the antique 
dealer hadn’t paid me an 
outrageous sum of money, 
he decided to hide his 
shame by not going to 
the police.” 

Had the antique dealer 
been more vengeful, 
Drowned God might never 
have been conceived. As it 
stands, the game should 
be available by year’s end- 
unless the secret society of 
the Freemasons suppresses 
its publication. 

— Michael Brown 



Drowned God will feature fiendish logic puzzles that are tightly 
woven into the game’s storyline. 



Do you believe that humans 
are the product of extrater- 
restrial genetic experiments? 
Are you convinced the carv- 
ings on the Plains of Nazca 
are navigation beacons for 
alien spacecraft? Then 
you’re going to love In- 
scape’s Drowned God. 

The object of the game 
is to search four mysterious 
realms to find four ancient 
relics: the Ark of the 
Covenant, the Holy Grail, 
the Rod of Osiris, and the 
Philosopher’s Stone. Each 
relic is guarded by a 



labyrinth of puzzles related 
to a 50,000-year-old con- 
spiracy to obscure the true 
origin of the human race. 

"The relics you’re 
searching for are not what 
you think they are,” says 
British designer Richard 
Horne. “The Rod of Osiris, 
for example, is said to be 
capable of turning water 
into fire. We recognize that 
as being a powerful catalyt- 
ic converter that can turn 
sea water into fuel. It is a 
tool left behind by ancient 
alien visitors, and whoever 



Artists are using Microsoft’s Softimage to produce a surreal environment for Drowned God. 



Embark on a quest for ancient 
relics such as the Holy Grail. 



AVAILABLE: DEC 1006 
PRICE TBA 
COMPANY: INSCAPE 
PHONE: 800.603.3253 



84 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 






I 





A Multimedia Best-Seller from Corel 
Makers of The World’s #1 Graphics Program! 

Corel ArtShow ™ 6 is a breathtaking tribute to the 
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tAlso available in jewel case-only format. 




Corel ArtShow 6 




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Product Information Number 92 



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PREVIEWS 




s '/#A 



Unreal 

Pushing the envelope on all sides 





Using the CAD-like Unreal World Editor you can build custom game levels. A collection of utilities will 
empower anyone to host tournaments. 



Intel has yet to announce a 
processor featuring its new 
MMX instruction set, but 
Epic MegaGames is already 
developing a game that 
promises to take full 
advantage of it. Unreal, a 
3D, first-person action 
game, will deliver high-reso- 
lution, 24-bit graphics, 
frame rates of 30fps, and 
sound effects boasting 
44.1kHz sampling rates. 

Even without MMX, the 
game is poised to break 
new ground in terms of its 
capabilities and perfor- 
mance. “ Unreal promises 
fully texture-mapped poly- 
gons with dynamic lighting 
and shadowing, even on a 
Pentium 90 with no 3D 
acceleration,” says Cliff 
Bleszinski, Unreal' s chief 
developer. 



In a major departure 
from other action games, 
you’ll play a female protag- 
onist, the lone survivor of a 
crash landing on an alien 
world. But don’t worry. You 
won’t be trapped in scenar- 
ios where you play house 
with alien space bunnies. 
Epic promises 40 different 
characters, including an 
impressive collection of big 
alien bad-asses. 

“Combat will be 
extremely cinematic and 
consistently exciting,” says 
Bleszinski. The game 
engine, he points out, will 
enable characters to react 
to bullets and other projec- 
tiles much more realistically 
than in previous games in 
this genre. “If you shoot 
somebody in the shoulder,” 
says Bleszinski, “you’ll see 
his shoulder 
jerk back 
when the bul- 
let hits. And 
even after 
he’s dead, his 
body will 
keep jerking 
if you keep 
shooting.” 



Unreal will feature awe-inspiring texture maps 
and lighting effects. 



Feeling ambitious? Epic 
plans to bundle a level edi- 
tor ( Unreal World Editor), so 
you can design custom 
environments. You’ll be 
able to trade any object 
you build with any other 
Unreal player, and they can 
instantly import that object 
into their version of the 
game. Use building blocks 
ranging from wooden stair- 
cases to castle walls to 
build new rooms, structures, 
and entire worlds in which 
to play. It’s been possible 
to design your own Doom 
WAD files for some time, of 
course, but doing so 
required a set of arcane 
skills. The CAD-like Unreal 
World Editor, on the other 
hand, is the same tool that 
Bleszinski and his col- 
leagues are using to create 
the levels in the original 
game. And Epic claims it’s 
as easy to use as any 
graphics program. 

There are more killer 
features. If you’ve ever 
craved switching sides to 
walk a mile in a monster’s 
shoes, Unreal' s “posses- 
sion” feature will give you 




Intel’s MMX technology will make possible some of the most 
realistic monsters ever seen in a computer game. 



the chance. Unleash this 
spell on an unwary oppo- 
nent or any other character 
and you can temporarily 
inhabit and control his 
body, assuming whatever 
powers and weapons he 
happens to possess. 

Multiplayer tournaments 
played over the Internet 
bring a totally new dimen- 
sion to any game, but the 
fees that service providers 
such as DWANGO and TEN 
charge for play can put a 
major dent in your wallet. 
The alternative— playing 
over your employer’s LAN— 
is just not feasible for most 
people. Epic promises to 
deliver a server edition of 
Unreal that will empower 
anyone to host multiplayer 
sessions over the Internet 
using nothing more than 
their home computer and a 
modem. Game hosts will be 
like dungeon masters, with 
the ability to control which 
monsters are present in a 
given environment, which 
rooms and buildings are 
accessible at a given time 
of day— even lighting and 
weather conditions. 



“ Unreal promises 
fully texture- 
mapped 
polygons with 
dynamic lighting 
and shadowing, 
even on a 
Pentium 90 with 
no 3D 

acceleration.” 

Assuming Epic can deliv- 
er on all its promises, when 
someone asks (and you 
know they will), “Why do 
you need a faster computer 
just to play games?” You’ll 
be able to point to Unreal 
and answer “ This is why.” 

— Lisa Rein 

AVAILABLE: DECEMBER 
1 996 

PRICE: TB A 

COMPANY: EPIC 

MEGAGAMES 

PHONE: 301.983.9771 

URL: WWW.EPICGAMES.COM 




Unreal will provide an immense gameplay universe. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 87 





PREVIEWS 




S/^J 



NBA Full Court Press 

“Bill Gates with... the runner” 



Bill Gates is no Hersey Hawkins, but he does 
know computers and what computer enthusiasts 
want: great games. NBA Full Court Press is 
Microsoft's first sports sim. In fact, it's one of 
the first games from the software giant’s emerg- 
ing games division. 

NBA, which should ship this November, sup- 
ports up to four players over a LAN or serial 
connection, and features a nontraditional view- 
ing perspective. 

But it will take more than smooth moves and 
a few good players to compete with EA Sports’ 
NBA Live ’96 or Acclaim’s NBA Jam. We spoke 
with Rob Wolf, product planner for Microsoft’s 
sports games division, to find out if this title 
could compete with those winners or if it would 
take a seat on the bench with bricks such as 
Digital Pictures’ Slam City. 

boot: The viewing angle and graphics in NBA 
Full Court Press are quite different. What do 
these features add to the game? 

Wolf: We wanted the player to be able to see a 
lot. But we also wanted to make sure the game- 
play was good. We have several different levels 
of resolution for that angle up to 1280x1024. 
There is also a zoom-in mode, so you can see 
things more clearly with the press of a key. 



boot: Is this title geared to the hard-core sim 
fan, or is it targeted to the novice gamer? 

Wolf: We tried to make it deep enough for the 
hard-core gamers. We also tried to make it 
approachable for novices and to those who have 
had bad experiences installing games. There’s a 
help section that includes a glossary on the 
game of basketball. 

boot: Have you included any team-editor modes 
or other features to give the game more replay 
value? 

Wolf: We’ve got ways to change the players’ 
characteristics, like facial hair, in the player edi- 
tor. You can also create new players. So you 
could add yourself to the game. There are four 
custom teams that can be edited to your liking. 
There are over 250 different motions that were 
captured for the game via motion capture. That 
adds a good variety of movement, and you’ll see 
something you haven’t seen before after playing 
for a while. 

boot: What are some of the title’s other standout 
features? 

Wolf: One of the things I like about it is the fact 
that it captures the competitive spirit of sports. 

I think that is something people enjoy. Being 




The game features a player editor that allows you to 
add yourself, or Bill Gates, to any team. And there are 
four fictitious teams that you can edit 




Each team has exclusive plays based on the real life 
NBA squads. Teams’ strengths and weaknesses are 
based on their NBA counterparts. 



able to sit next to your friend, dunk on him, and 
give him grief for it is fun. If you’re playing over 
a modem it’s a similar feeling. The A/I is also 
something that we really worked hard on. We 
worked with a scout from the NBA so that the 
teams would run real plays. We have over 100 
plays that can be called out on the fly. Each 
team has five exclusive plays. 

Another thing that stands out is the sound and 
the voice of Kevin Calabro [the radio and televi- 
sion voice of the Seattle Supersonics]. Using a 
real-life announcer is a feature that has been 
tried in the past and turned out choppy. It’s 
something that we tried to make more enjoyable 
for the users. One other thing. When we ran this 
through the simulator, it said the Bulls will win 
4-2 (in the NBA Finals). 

- Doug Lombardi 

AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 1996 
PRICE: $44.95 

COMPANY: MICROSOFT ENTERTAINMENT 

PHONE: 800.882.8080 

URL: WWW.MICROSOFT.COM 




NBA Full Court Press supports four players over a LAN or serial connection. Microsoft decided against any support 
for Internet play due to the unresolved latency issues. 



88 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 






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(Offer good io tire US only and expires 12/31/96.] 



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The best survival tool 
available for the 
games you "live" 
to play. 

PC Gamer gives you 
i of the latest 
games, scoop 
previews, strategies, 
and a CD-ROM 
packed with the 
hottest interactive 
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PREVIEWS 



Syn Factor 

It's a beautiful world 
















m 

9 

% 




■ 

a 1 











We live in a world full of 
distractions, and the quiet 
moments of beauty are 
sometimes lost to the din. 
Syn Factor will most likely 
join those lost moments. 

In this Director- based 
game, you are a crewperson 
aboard the I.S.T. Rident 
who awakes to find the rest 
of the crew and passengers 
mysteriously missing follow- 
ing a shanghai by two “dog 
ships.” Your search for an 
explanation will take you 
through the beautifully ren- 
dered halls of the ship, 
through the memory banks 
of the ship’s comput- 
er, and through the 
pages of PDAs you 
discover around the 
vessel. You are alone 
and don’t know why. 

I can tell you 
why. People are real- 
ly hard to simulate 
in this style of game. 

When the settings 
are so meticulously 
modeled and rendered, as 
they are in Syn Factor, 
inserting polygon people or 
cut-scene live action video 
(as is used in the fourth 
episode of the story, when 
you crash the Synsym cor- 
porate offices) is jarring and 
breaks the effect. The set- 
tings in Syn Factor are 
640x480 stills presented in 



256 colors and generated in 
3D Studio. You segue 
between stills with 640x480 
QuickTime sequences that, 
once launched, are not 
interactive. You navigate the 
five episodes in this meticu- 
lous world via a rendered 
industrial interface with but- 
tons for accessing your 
inventory, moving around 
the ship, and tapping into 
your personal databank, 
which you query for 
answers to your identity 
and circumstance. The 
action area is just over 
quarter-screen, but the 



The third episode of Syn Factor takes place at the Carswell Colony, 
an unusual outpost that remains uncharted. And unpopulated as 
well, just like the I.S.T. Rident Spooky. 



A screen from a PDA. In Syn Factors version of 
the future, everyone has Sym chip implants to 
help with that pesky man/machlne interface. 



angle of view is slightly 
wider than normal, and 
response time to clicks is 
quick enough that you don’t 
suffer the annoyingly claus- 
trophobic periscope effect. 

The biggest problem for 
Syn Factor is that the day 
for this genre of game has 
passed. As real-time texture- 
mapped, polygon-based 



You navigate the stunningly rendered world of Syn Factor via this brushed metal interface looking for 
answers. Perhaps that floating PDA has a clue. 

games, such as Quake and 
Unreal refine their resolu- 
tion and conquer technical 
issues such as light sourc- 
ing, games like Syn Factor 
feel more and more canned. 

This type of game has more 
in common with a 
paper-bound novel 
than the twitch 
games that are popu- 
lar today. Comparing 
the adrenaline rush 
of unleashing hails of 
shotgun shells in 
Duke Nukem 3D to 
the quiet hunt-and- 
click format of Syn 
Factor makes the dif- 
ferences clear. The latter is 
as sexy as hunting for your 
lost car keys when you’re 
late for work and suffering 
from a bad case of amne- 
sia. Who am I? Where am I? 

How do I get out of here? 

Oh, there’s a door. Access 
denied, pass key required. 

Where’s that key? Hunt, 
hunt, hunt. 

Still, if you have a quiet 
corner for your PC and 
some quality time to spend 
with it, Syn Factor can 
become as engrossing as a 
good book... if that’s your 
speed. 

— Brad Dosland 



Clicking on different controls in this shuttle brings up close-up 
views of the screens. 



AVAILABLE: OCT 1996 
PRICE: $39.95 
COM PA NY:PIRANHA 
INTERACTIVE 
PHONE: 800.747.2642 



In this splash screen from the first episode, the weather starts 
getting rough, and the tiny ship is tossed. If not for the courage 
of the fearless crew, the Rident will be lost 



90 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 






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r* From the 
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Product Information Number 91 







Windows 
NT 4.0 

A hands-on first look 



It’s time to consider upgrading your operating 
system. You’ve upgraded your CPU, RAM, CD- 
ROM drive, hard drive, even your motherboard. 
But to leverage the most performance out of this 
hardware you must think about a transfusion for 
the digital lifeblood of your machine: The OS. 

Windows NT is a die-hard network OS, but 
you wouldn’t want to run the NT Server version 
on your personal computer. Instead, consider 
the workstation version of NT, which requires 
less hardware and offers better application per- 
formance. The NT Workstation version is known 

Windows NT 4.0 at a Glance 

Note: Some features were introduced in earlier 
versions of NT, but are included here for com- 
parison with Windows 95 and OS/2. 

• Explorer user interface with desktop icons, 
folders, taskbar, and Start menu. 

• New accessories, such as Paint and 
WordPad. 

• Redesigned Control Panel tools. 

• Many Microsoft Plus! features built in, 
including font smoothing, full-window 
dragging and sizing, TrueColor icons, even 
the pinball game. 

• Faster display drivers, with support for 
dynamic resolution and color-depth switching, 
DirectDraw, DirectSound, and AutoPlay for fast 
and convenient gaming. Full OpenGL support 
for CAD and 3D graphics. 

• Internet Explorer browser with ActiveX and 
Java support; dial-up networking; Exchange 
e-mail client included. TAPI support for 
communications and telephony applications. 
Peer-based Web server. 

• Security features let you limit access to files 
and folders and system management functions. 

• Requires 486 or Pentium processor-386 no 
longer supported (AMD/NexGen 586 and 5.25- 
inch floppy drives also not supported). NT also 
runs on MIPS, PowerPC, and Alpha CPUs. 

• Per-file and per-folder dynamic compres- 
sion, a big improvement over DoubleSpace and 
DriveSpace, which are not supported. 

• Supports 16-bit FAT and NTFS partitions up 
to 8GB— no longer compatible with OS/2 HPFS 
partitions, and not yet compatible with the 
new 32-bit FAT for Win 95. 

• True 32-bit pre-emptive multitasking with 
multiprocessor support and the ability to mul- 
titask 16-bit Windows applications in indepen- 
dent memory spaces. 



as a world-class per- 
sonal computer OS, if 
you have the power 
and support to make 
the most of it. 




Shut Down... 



J ^ Accessories 


1 


® jrj Startup 


► 


Command Prompt 




► Microsoft Exchange 




J&J Windows NT Explorer 




j Ej Administrative T ools (Common) ► 


Graphics 


► 


Infobahn 


► 


Microsoft Office 


► 


jsj Startup 


► 


jeJ Toolkit 


► 



(gf) Games 
.rj Multimedia 
System Tools 
jjjj Calculator 
Character Map 
& Chat 

|[Tj Clipboard Viewer 

E3 Clock 

Dial-Up Networking 
HyperTerminal 
Rj Imaging 
Ji) Notepad 
^ Object Packager 
^Pant 
4*3 Phone Dialer 
fcjj Tebet 
Ql WordPad 



as 

You would be hard pressed to tell whether this machine is running Windows 95 or NT 
4.0— except for a clue on the Start menu. 



Windows NT 4.0 was recently given a green 
light to enter beta testing, despite some reserva- 
tions that it would delay NT’s successor, the 
Cairo OS, which is being coded from the ground 
up as a true object-oriented operating system. 

As it stands, relatively few Cairo technologies, 
such as the Object File System, made it into NT 
4.0. In fact, the robust “New Technology” of NT 
4.0 is, by and large, just Windows 3.51 with the 
Windows 95 interface, some new tools, and a 
few new features, such as Plug-and-Play support 
(but only for PC Cards). Other than the whole- 
sale adoption of the new GUI, this is not a 
major upgrade. 

Some may quibble with the implementation 
of the Explorer user interface glued over NT’s 
updated code, but it’s certainly the most visible 
and the single best addition to NT 4.0. While 
veteran NT users may be annoyed after hitting 
the close box for the nth time when reaching for 
the maximize button, the interface is a result of 
both independent testing and Microsoft’s own 
usability research (which shows that a system’s 
power is more accessible to more users with the 
GUI, and, coincidentally, reduces the tech sup- 
port burden). 

In many ways, using NT 4.0 feels just like 
using Win 95. NT 4.0 even supports the new 
breed of DirectX-based games (such as Zork 
Nemesis), The Microsoft Network, and Internet 
access via dial-up networking. But ultimately the 
resemblance is only skin-deep— one look at the 
NT 4.0 Control Panel options makes this clear. 

One jarring dissimilarity springs up when you 
go to install NT 4.0. Even for a hard-core PC 
mechanic, it can be a real bear to install and 
configure, partially because it lacks a centralized 
device manager with true Plug-and-Play support. 
PC Card Plug-and-Play has been provided for 
business people with laptops, but NT 4.0’s lack 
of power management hobbles the OS on the 
road. A portable owner whose battery normally 
provides juice for four hours will be lucky to get 
one hour out of the same machine on NT 4.0. 

One major issue when installing NT 4.0 in- 
volves updating all your device drivers. Because 



a computer system is worthless without full 
access to all your devices and peripherals, your 
choice of NT 4.0 vs. Win 95 may rely upon your 
ability to track down vendor-specific drivers for 
your hardware. While you should use true 32-bit 
Win 95 driver software to get the most out of it, 
Win 95 does support most DOS and Windows 
3.x drivers. NT gives you no choice— you must 
install NT drivers for all your equipment, and NT 

Windows NT 4.0 

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While many Control Panel icons appear similar to those 
found in Win 95, NT has many more Control Panel 
options, and many behave differently than their Win 95 
counterparts. 



92 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 





PREVIEWS 



Windows NT 4.0 System Windows 95 System 

Properties Properties 





4.0 is not compatible with most NT 3.x drivers, 
especially video card drivers. In fact, using an 
incompatible video driver is one of the few sure 
ways to completely bring NT 4.0 to its knees. 
“Real mode” DOS drivers and TSRs are also ver- 
boten, so forget about playing Doom II, or any 
other DOS-based apps, through NT 4.0. 

Fortunately, NT 4.0 comes with drivers for 
most popular video cards, printers, SCSI adapters, 
and other peripherals. And since future versions 
of Win 95 and NT will rely upon identical driver 
models, a bigger selection of improved drivers 
should surface soon. 

Once you have your NT 4.0 machine standing 
on its own two feet, try introducing it to a net- 
work or the Internet. Be prepared for a daunting 
deluge of jargon involving protocols, DNS and 
WINS servers, bindings, and IP addresses— and 
all this happens the first time you set up NT 
before you’ve digested the documentation, much 
of which is on the CD-ROM. 

Windows NT is worth the trouble, however. 
For one thing, it’s nearly crash-proof— if an 
application goes down, any other applications 
running in the background continue to hum 
along. There’s no risk of losing data from one 
app when another app, running in the back- 
ground, crashes. Win 95 has feigned this sort of 
stability with its alt+ctrl+del Close Program box, 
but NT actually delivers. 

Of course, all this relies on efficient multi- 
tasking. NT’s multitasking is a dream come true 
because 16-bit apps can run in separate virtual 
machines that multitask smoothly, and NT’s true 
32-bit nature makes your 32-bit applications run 
at top speed. 

If you have a Pentium Pro, Windows NT is an 
absolute must— the fragments of 16-bit code in 
the Win 95 OS simply ruin the optimizations that 
the Pentium Pro employs— NT finally unleashes 
the full power of this CPU. Given Windows NT 
4.0’s superior multitasking, rock-solid stability, 
and friendly interface, the same could be said for 
any PC running NT 4.0. 

Given all the DOS-based games and the 
deluge of Win 95-optimized software available, 
perhaps the best solution for power users who 



want the best of 
both worlds is a 
compromise. 

Install both 
Windows NT and 
Win 95, and when 
you boot up your 
machine it will ask 
you which OS you 
want to run. While 
most software 
(except 32-bit 
optimized code) will 
run about the same 
speed under either 
OS, NT 4.0’s multitasking and stability will make 
you much more productive. 

— Charles Brannon 

AVAILABLE: THIRD QUARTER 1996 
PRICE: $319 
COMPANY: MICROSOFT 
PHONE: 800.426.9400 
URL WWW.MSN.COM 



Windows 95 Display Properties 
1 1 " 

Background | Screen Saver | Appearance Setting* J 




Color palette desktop area 

[SSBSSHHHHHTE! Les * j Mo, ° 

i i 

Change Display JLype. . . 

1 OK | Cancel | 

Windows NT Display Properties 





A Brief History of Windows NT 



Traditionally, Intel-based machines have 
employed some combination of MS-DOS and 
Windows 3.x, with a handful of power users 
opting for OS/2. The 1990 introduction of 
Windows NT 3.1 offered a powerful alterna- 
tive, combining the reliable 32-bit multitasking 
power of OS/2 with the familiar Windows 3.1 
interface and superior software compatibility. 

For these reasons, Windows NT started 
primarily as a network operating system and a 
workstation-class operating system for engi- 
neers, professional designers, and anyone 
with zero tolerance for system crashes and 
resource limitations. While NT ran most 16-bit 
applications well, its reliance on a true 32-bit 
platform led to some compatibility problems 
and, surprisingly, reduced performance. 

Windows NT did not catch on immediately. 

For one thing, it required (and still does re- 
quire) a more powerful computer than 
Windows 3.1. When 4MB computers were con- 
sidered well-endowed, NT required a minimum 
of 16MB. Indeed, as desktop configurations 
grew increasingly more powerful, Windows 
3.1’s limitations became painfully apparent. 

The solution came with the long-awaited 
introduction of Windows 95, whose primary 
goal was compatibility with Windows 3.1 soft- 
ware, with secondary goals achieving better 
multitasking, support for 32-bit programs, and 
a completely updated user interface. Windows 
NT, on the other hand, continues its focus 
first on reliability and stability, with compati- 
bility and performance as secondary goals. 

Win 95 offers a lot for a desktop operating 
system: increased system resources, easy net- 
work configuration and management, built-in 
Internet support, and numerous new technolo- 
gies such as TAPI, Plug-and-Play, DirectX, vir- 
tual disk access, not to mention extensive 
hardware and peripheral support. Despite 
these new features, Win 95 continues to sup- 
port older programs and equipment by using 
an enhanced version of MS-DOS at boot time, 
with improved support for DOS games and 
applications, even without exiting Win 95. 

Despite Win 95’s rapid adoption in the 
home and small office, corporations have 
been holding out for the next generation of 
Windows NT, considering it more suitable for 
mission-critical applications. Larger companies 
can afford the hardware upgrades needed to 
run Windows NT. The thinking goes, if you 
have to upgrade your computers to run Win 
95, why not pay just a little more and run 
Windows NT instead? 

V J 



Charles Brannon, a freelance book author and 
contributing writer, is coauthor of Windows NT 
4.0 Workstation Desktop Companion, published 
by Ventana Press. 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 93 





boot 

( reviews ) 

KICKIN’ THE TIRES ON THE LATEST 
HARDWARE AND TAKIN' THE NEWEST 
SOFTWARE OUT FOR A SPIN 



94 Gateway 2000 Solo Laptop 

95 Hitachi M-120T Laptop 
98 U.S. Robotics Pilot PDA 

100 Logitech WingMan Warrior joystick 
100 PC Program Pad Game Controller 
102 Nokia Multigraph 447Xavc Monitor 

107 Gateway 2000 P5-166XL System 

108 Ricoh RDC-1 Digital Camera 

108 Packard Bell Platinum Pro System 

109 Hewlett-Packard 7130P System 

116 Connectix Color QuickCam Digital Camera 

-• 9/ IV 

96 Strife 

97 d-Time 95 
97 SpeedyROM 

102 Chaos 

103 Nine Worlds with Patrick Stewart 

105 Frank Lloyd Wright 

106 Waterloo 

110 Duke Nukem 3D 
112 Web.Designer 
112 Total Mayhem 
115 3D Studio Max 






ra,tirugs system 

90 to 100% Dreamy The hardware you’ll find in 
this category expands the realm of The Possible; the 
software breaks new ground and takes full advantage 
of the best hardware. If you care about computing, you 
must have this stuff. 

80 to 89% Excellent The goods in this category 
don’t push the envelope quite as hard, but they do 
offer excellent performance. Some of this stuff is 
esoteric enough that it holds only limited appeal. 




Only the best 
earn enough 
respect to be 
worthy of 
our editors* 
choice award. 



70 to 79% Solid These are more than “me too" products. They fine- 
tune the use of new technology, rather than push the envelope. 



60 to 69% Good If it lands here, it's average. Look around and you’ll 
find several nearly identical competitors. In most instances, however, there 
is some feature that makes it worth a second look. 



50 to 59% Fair These products are behind the performance curve and 
fail to take advantage of readily available technology that could make 
them much better. 



40 to 49% Lacking Anything in this category exhibits serious flaws, 
but it has a few redeeming qualities. 

0 to 39 % Dregs Flat-out junk. The management of any company that 
produces more than one of these in a single year should be sacked. 




With a 120MHz Pentium, 
1.2GB hard drive, and 40MB 
of EDO DRAM inside, it 
might seem the Gateway 
2000 Solo should possess 
the heft of a $5,599 boat 
anchor. But weighing in at 
just 6.3 pounds (including 
the 4x CD-ROM drive), this 
machine is ready to fly. 

The Solo owes much of 
its weight loss to its 
diminutive lithium ion bat- 
tery. Its 11.3-inch active- 
matrix display is also small- 
er than many other note- 
books in its class, but it’s 
incredibly bright and offers 
brilliant contrast. The Chips 
& Technologies 65545 




The battery can be 
charged while installed — 
even if you’re using the com- 
puter— or it can be plugged 
directly into the AC adapter 



components are. No tools 
are need to get at the 
SIMM sockets, and both the 
battery and hard disk drive 
pop right out. Spring-loaded 



Gateway 2000 
Solo 



This light weight is no lightweight 



chipset supports 800x600 
resolution, but only at 256 
colors. You must drop 
down to 640x480 to display 
64,000 colors. 

The computer’s back 
panel offers serial, parallel, 
and VGA ports behind a 
flip-down panel. There’s 
also an infrared comm port 
and a PS/2-style port for a 
mouse or keyboard. If 
you’re looking for a 
machine that will double as 
a desktop computer, the 
Solo features a connector 
for an optional port replica- 
tor (which has, among other 
things, a MIDI/game port). 
The display will pivot to a 
completely horizontal posi- 
tion, ensuring it won’t block 
out your CRT display. No 
matter what position the 
display is in, a 3.5-inch LCD 
keeps you informed of the 
status of up to 14 condi- 
tions, including disk access 
and battery status. 



brick. A multicolor LED on 
the display hinge informs 
you of charging conditions 
even if the lid is closed. 

Flip the computer over, 
and you’ll notice how 
accessible all the Solo’s 



feet on the back flip down 
and lean toward the front 
of the computer to give you 
a better typing angle. These 
mechanics make it im- 
possible for the feet to col- 
lapse beneath the computer 



under the hood 

the brains 



CPU 120MHz Intel Pentium 

External Cache 256k pipeline burst 

RAM 40MB EDO DRAM (40MB max) 

Video C&T 65545, 1MB 70ns DRAM 

the brawn 

Hard Drive 1.2GB IBM DPRA 2121S, EIDE 

CD-ROM Matsushita AX, IDE/ATAPI(removable) 

Expansion 2 Type II PC Cards or 1 Type III 

the beauty 

Display 11.3-inch active matrix 

Video 800x600 max res with 256 colors 

Sound ESS ES1688 FM synth., 16-bit DAC, 

16-bit ADC 

Speakers stereo 

Weight 6.3 pounds w/CD-ROM drive 



94 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 




REVIEWS 



The Gateway 2000 Solo wraps a 120MHz 
Pentium, a 1.2GB hard drive, and a whopping 
40MB of RAM into a 6.3-pound package. 

when you pick it up and set it back 
down. 

The Solo possesses a number of low- 
tech features that actually make the 
device easier to use. You adjust the dis- 
play brightness, for example, with a slid- 
er on the right side of the display. Vo- 
lume control is handled by a thumb- 
wheel next to the line-out jack, and the 
CD-ROM drive tray can be ejected even 
when the power is turned off. Removing 
the Matsushita 4x CD-ROM drive to re- 
place it with the floppy drive is a single- 
handed operation. 

Less impressive is the Solo’s mushy 
keyboard. Push down firmly on any key and the entire 
board caves in slightly. Several important keys, including 
the tab, delete, caps lock, shift, and space bar are unusu- 
ally small. The cursor-control keys are ridiculously narrow. 
Gateway’s trackpad, on the other hand, is an improvement 
over typical pads because it reacts to finger taps as 
though you had hit the left mouse button. This makes 
opening folders and conducting drag-and-drop operations 
considerably easier than with a trackball or stick. 

The Solo racked up some impressive benchmarks in our 
tests. Ziff-Davis’ WinBench 96 reported a Disk WinMark of 
588KB/sec and a CD-ROM WinMark of 398KB/sec. The 
Solo earned a Graphics WinMark of 10.6 million pixels per 
second at 800x600 resolution with 256 colors. 

Graphics performance in DOS was lackluster. At 320- 
x200 resolution, the Solo achieved just 26fps running 
Descent II, but sped up to 36.5fps in Duke Nukem 3D. 

With resolution cranked up to 640x480, performance 
slipped to just 8fps in Descent and 7fps in Duke. 

Sound on the Gateway is surprisingly good, especially 
considering that the ESS ES1688 audio chipset offers only 
FM synthesis. Its 16-bit DAC also sounds good and rela- 
tively free from distortion— especially through headphones. 
You’ll hear plenty of noise in the signal path while playing 
audio CDs, however. Stereo 
speakers are mounted on the 
lid hinge and face you direct- 
ly for clear sound. 

Considering this laptop 
boasts 40MB of RAM, it’s 
amazingly inexpensive. With 
a bigger screen and a firmer 
keyboard, it would have 
been even better. 

— Michael Brown 



Double Take 

/ love this /(to top 
C / prefer a keyboard 
with, a responsive 
touch. J. The active - 
matrif disp/ay is 
crisp even outdoors , 
a/tKough, /'d prefer a 
f^.f-inch, screen. 
P/us, the S o/o's PC 
Cord s/ot and mod- 
ular drives are easy 
to use and provide 
Kandy peripheral 
and communica- 
tions options . 

— Angela LoSasso 




COMPANY: GATEWAY 2000 
PRICE: $5,599 
PHONE: 800.846.2000 
URL: http://WWW.GW2K.COM 



boot verdict 




All the mulltmedia you could want 
In a 6-pound package 



Hitachi M-120T 

Focus is on communications 



Hitachi’s first notebook 
computer features a number 
of bells and whistles and 
several innovations, but the 
machine also has a couple 
of key design flaws. 

With a 120MHz Pentium, 
16MB of RAM (expandable 
to 48MB), a spacious 11.8- 
inch active-matrix display, a 
removable 4x CD- 
ROM drive, and 
stereo speakers, the 
M-120T ($5,299) is a 
multimedia power- 
house. And the 
built-in 28.8 
fax/modem and 
lOBaseT Ethernet 
port leaves the two 
Type II PC card slots 
completely free. 

Unfortunately, 
the machine turns into a 
ravenous beast when run- 
ning on battery power. Even 
after setting the supplied 
Phoenix PowerPanel utility 
for maximum life, the 
Hitachi consistently deliv- 
ered a meager one and a 
half hours of uptime from 
its NiMH battery. What’s 
worse, the only battery sta- 
tus indicator is a tiny LED 
that lights up a few minutes 
before the battery is 
exhausted (the machine 
emits a feeble beep at the 
same time). It’s a good 
thing Hitachi supplies a 
stand-alone battery charger, 
because the computer won’t 
charge its battery unless it’s 
plugged in but powered off. 

One of the M-120T’s 
most significant innovations 
is the sliding hinge attached 
to its display (max resolu- 
tion of 800x600 and up to 
64,000 colors). When 
opened, the bottom of the 
panel slides forward so the 
lid stands perpendicular to 
the base. This is convenient 
for working in tight quar- 
ters, such as an airline seat, 
but the hinge consumes real 



estate that could otherwise 
have been used for an 
ergonomic wrist rest. The 
hinge also prevents the dis- 
play from lying flat, so 
using this computer with a 
CRT display is problematic 
because the lid obstructs 
your view of the monitor. 
The lid is thin and not at all 



strong. Even light finger 
pressure on the back and 
sides causes the LCD dis- 
play to bloom and distort. 

Weight, on the other 
hand, is no problem. The 
M-120T tipped the scales at 
just 7 pounds, including the 
CD-ROM drive, battery, and 
built-in power supply (all 
you need is a cord; there’s 



no power brick to pack). 

The front drive bay acco- 
modates either a removable 
3.5-inch floppy disk drive or 
a CD-ROM drive. If you need 
both at the same time, plug 
the floppy into the parallel 
port. But if you extend the 
legs on the back of the unit, 
however, you won’t be able 



to open the CD-ROM drive 
without jamming its tray 
into your desktop. Can’t you 
just picture Hitachi’s engi- 
neers exploding with a 
Homer Simpson-style 
“Doooh!" the first time they 
punched the CD eject button 
on a shipping unit? 

In our performance tests, 
the M-120T delivered ► 120 



under the hood 

the brains 



CPU 120MHz Intel Pentium 

External Cache 256k L2 

RAM 16MB EDO DRAM (48MB max) 

Video Cirrus Logic-7543 PCI. 1MB DRAM 

the brawn 

Hard Drive 1GB-IBM 

CD-ROM 4x (removable) 

Expansion 2 Type II PC Card or 1 Type III 

the beauty 

Display 11.8-inch active matrix 

Video 800x600 max res, 64,000 colors 

Sound Sound Blaster Pro-compatible, 

FM synth 

Speakers Stereo 

Weight 7.3 pounds w/CD-ROM drive 

Communications ..28.8Kbps modem/14.4Kbps fax; 

lOBaseT Ethernet, Infrared port 
Other Built-in AC adapter; 5-year warranty 




boot AUG/SEPT • 95 






Strife 

Neither fish nor fowl 



Strife takes the Doom game 
engine and enriches it with 
RPG-style play. But after 
tramping through the ele- 
gant, 640x480 universe of 
Duke Nukem 3D , it’s 
damned hard to stuff your 
expectations back into 
Doom's three-year-old, 



pixelated, 320x200 box- 
enriched or not. 

If this were the only 
problem, you could almost 
forgive the game’s visual 
flaws in appreciation of its 
ambitious nature. Unfor- 
tunately, Strife's value as a 
role-playing game is severe- 




You can’t go home again. The graphics of which the Doom engine 
is capable just aren’t bootWorthy. 



ly compromised by the 
shoot-’em-up nature of its 
foundation. The linear Doom 
engine is simply too restric- 
tive to accommodate the 
complex, branching storyline 
that a good RPG needs. 

As a hero for hire, your 
mission is to help a group 
of rebels overthrow the gov- 
ernment, which consists of 
a tyrannical cult known as 
The Order. (Yes, it does 
sound a lot like Dark 
Forces .) The difference is 
that Strife gives you the 
opportunity to interact with 
the other characters in the 
game, instead of simply 
blowing everybody away. 

You can also carry an inven- 
tory of objects and tools in 
addition to your cache of 
weapons and ammo. 

Initiate conversations 
with any characters you 
encounter (peasants, prison 
guards, allies, your com- 
manding officer, and so on) 




You interact with characters represented by static cartoon images, 
but they have excellent voice-overs. 



by pressing the space bar. 
Most people won’t have 
much to say, but a few pos- 
sess information or objects 
you require or have instruc- 
tions for you to carry out. 
(The latter characters are 
represented by static, car- 
toon images, but have 
excellent voice-over narra- 
tion.) This adds complexity 
to the game, but your “cor- 
rect” response to what any- 
one has to say is usually so 
obvious that the game never 
builds up any suspense. 



Strife wants to be a 
thinking man’s Doom, just 
don’t think too hard, or 
you will begin to ask your- 
self why you’re playing 
this game. 

— Michael Brown 



PRICE: $49.95 
COMPANY: VELOCITY 
PHONE: 800.856.2489 
URL: WWW. VELOCITY 



65 % 



Interesting idea, not much payoff 



GAMES.COM 

boot verdict 




CHANCED. 



MUSIC 



s> 



Okay, try to follow this... you’ve got your 
normal audio CD from top-selling artists and 
f fresh new bands. Pretty straightforward. Now, take that 
same CD out of your stereo, cruise over to your Mac or PC 



i 



and pop it in. Now you’ve entered a totally mind-blowing new 
dimension. You’ve got videos, interviews, photos, lyrics and more 
original stuff than you can possibly imagine! It’s a gourmet’s plate of 
music and software, plus music TV and more... all burned onto one disc. 







REVIEWS 




S'/*'] 



d-Time 95; SpeedyROM 

Steak or ground sirloin? 



Quarterdeck’s SpeedyROM 
and Ballard Synergy’s d- 
Time 95 will both make 
your CD-ROM drive seem 
faster by caching data from 
the CD to your hard drive. 
The difference is that 
Ballard Synergy wants to 
grind your steak into a nice, 
easily digestible patty, while 
Quarterdeck says hey, have 
it your way. 

Both programs use your 
hard drive as a massive 

Exit IwboMcde Advanced ijelp 



Piii i 1 mk. i o j 



Red=Misses Green=Hits Hits 37% 

Ballard Synergy’s d-Time 95 
offers several gee- whiz fea- 
tures, including this graph 
tracking cache hits and misses. 



cache for the CD-ROM drive; 
therefore, the performance 
boost you experience will 
be basically identical with 
either program. Configuring 
d-Time 95, however, left me 
with the impression that 
Ballard Synergy wanted to 
“save” me from having to 
deal with all the nasty com- 
plexities of the task. 

Here are a few exam- 
ples: Both programs ignore 
full-motion video files by 
default, because caching 
them usually yields zero 
performance improvement. 
SpeedyROM, however, 
gives you the option of 
caching small digital video 
files. d-Time 95 uses the 
same caching technique for 
all CD-ROM drives; 
SpeedyROM offers different 



settings for different drives, 
up to 8x. d-Time 95 auto- 
matically defragments your 
hard drive, using the Defrag 
utility built into Windows 
95; SpeedyROM recom- 
mends that you defrag your 
hard drive, but leaves the 
task— and the choice of 
which defrag utility to use- 
up to you. Lastly, d-Time 95 
won’t function on a com- 
pressed hard drive; 
SpeedyROM will. 

d-Time 95 does have 
one important advantage 
over the competition: It 
runs under both DOS and 
Windows 95. Given a 
choice between the two, I’d 
go with SpeedyROM. I pre- 
fer to cut my own steak, 
thank you. 

— Michael Brown 




Quarterdeck’s SpeedyROM offers a host of performance options. 



PRICE: S50 



PRICE: $59.95 



COMPANY: BALLARD SYNERGY COMPANY: QUARTERDECK 



PHONE: 800.754.1204 



PHONE: 800.354.3222 



URL: WWW.BALLARDSYNERGY URL: W W W. Q U ARTE R D EC K 



bull verdict: 



boot verdict: 



Keep it simple, stupid. 



If you must rake it thus. 




keep an eye out for more new alternative, rock and country 

titles throughout 1996! 

Product Information Number 109 



And it won’t eat into your gas money ’cause it’s only a few $$ more 
than a regular CD and it’s available at record and software stores 
everywhere. Look for current titles by Clay Walker • The Monkees • 
Soundgarden • Her Majesty the Baby • Three Penny Needle * TOE • and 



Our Website: http://www.numill.com 



nu.miHennia|inc 



Your basic stick it in 
just about anything, 

play it anywhere, 

sit for six hours 

totally naked. 

fry all your senses, 

interactive music CD. 





REVIEWS 



512k Pilot 

PDA goes beyond pure lust 




The Pilot PDA shown actual size. 



When I first saw the U.S. 
Robotics Pilot PDA, I 
thought it would be perfect 
for boot's Pure Lust depart- 
ment. But having lived with 
the tiny powerhouse for a 
week, my feelings definitely 
go above and beyond lust. 
This is love. 

Desktop systems are 
powerful, laptops are versa- 
tile, the Newton blows. The 
secret to a PDA is that it 
must be with you when you 
need it. At only 5.7 ounces 
and roughly the size of a 
pack of playing cards, the 
Pilot isn’t a piece of lug- 
gage you constantly need 
to be aware of. It’s just in 
your pocket. And of its 3x5- 



inch face plate, 2.4x3.2 
inches are LCD screen, 
so it’s only as big as it 
needs to be. 

The touch-sensitive LCD 
screen has adjustable con- 
trast that can be viewed in 
a variety of lighting condi- 
tions (a backlit screen 
would have been conve- 
nient, but a U.S. Robotics 
rep explained the option 
was left out to extend the 
two AAA battery life to the 
multimonth range). Input is 
accomplished by pressing 
the on-screen buttons and 
those built into the case, 
using the tucked-away 
stylus to negotiate the on- 
screen keyboard, scroll 



arrows and pull-down 
menus, and by the powerful 
handwriting recognition 
package called Graffiti. If 
you naturally print when 
you write (like me), Graffiti 
will take you all of three 
minutes to master. This def- 
initely works. 

The advantage of trans- 
lating your notes is that the 
data you pour into your 
Pilot isn’t trapped there, 
just drop the Pilot into the 
provided cradle, which con- 
nects to your PC’s serial 
port, hit the HotSync but- 
ton, and Boom! All the info 
from your Pilot address 
book, date book, memo pad, 
and to-do list are automati- 
cally copied to the capable 
Pilot Desktop PIM soft- 
ware (and vice versa). 
Besides these 
applications, some of 
the Pilot’s 512k (or 
256k with the $299 
model) memory is 
occupied by a 
memory monitor 
that details 
memory con- 
sumption, and 






The Pilot PDA is the embodi- 
ment of modular design. The 
stylus slides into the top of 
the PDA for handy storage 
and the PDA drops into the 
cradle for automatic file 
synchronization via the 
serial port 



a security program 
that allows you to 
hide records clas- 
sified as private, 
assign a pass- 
word, and turn 
off and lock the 
unit so it can- 
not be turned on 
again without the pass- 
word. A Graffiti- based game 
called Giraffe is included 
with the Desktop software, 
and downloading it to the 
Pilot is simplicity itself. U.S. 
Robotics promises more 
apps are coming, so look 
forward to the gamut of 
programs available on other 
PDAs in the near future. 

Hopefully the next gen- 
eration of Pilot apps will 
also contain the thoughtful 
details that abound in this 
package. Like a shortcuts 
feature that allows you to 
create a custom glossary 
of common abbreviations, 
such as writing just dts 
for a date and time stamp, 
or br for break fast, or 
pka for The Pilot 
PDA is a Kick Ass 
product . 



Pocket the power 



boot verdict: 



You want proof? I wrote 
this entire review on a Pilot 
sitting on the sun-drenched 
deck of a sailboat in the 
middle of San Francisco Bay 
instead of going into the 
office today. 

- Brad Dosland 



PRICE: $369 

COMPANY: U.S. ROBOTICS 
PHONE: 415.949.9560 
URL: WWW.USR.COM 



98 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 





Psychologists say inside every 
18 to 35-year-old male, there lies 
a potential psychotic killer. 





REVIEWS 




WingMan 

Now that's a spin cycle! 



Once you’ve mastered your 
favorite first-person action 
game with Logitech’s 
WingMan Warrior, you’ll 
wonder how you ever sur- 
vived playing with a primi- 
tive keyboard. This device 
does for action games what 
the conventional joystick 
did for flight sims. 

Building on the founda- 
tion of its WingMan Extreme 
joystick, Logitech has 
designed a two-handed 
controller that offers 
unprecedented mastery of 
your character’s actions 
without ever having to 
resort to using your key- 
board or mouse. The 
Warrior isn’t perfect, but it 
comes close. 



The Warrior’s biggest 
innovation is its Spin- 
Control. This silky-smooth, 
rubber-coated knob turns 
your character in a 360- 
degree circle. Used in 
conjunction with the fire 
button, you can spin like a 
top, spewing out ordinance 
like a lawn sprinkler. Used 
with the stick, you can 
even run circles around 
your opponent. 

The Warrior’s stick oper- 
ates much like a conven- 
tional joystick, with four 
action buttons plus a four- 
way hat switch. The trigger 
(button 1) is a fire button, 
but the function of the 
other three— and the hat 
switch— depend on the 




and too far away 
from the rest of 
the thumb-operat- 
ed buttons and the 
hat. About the only 
state-of-the-art fea- 
ture missing is 
support for 
Immersion’s force 
feedback API. 

Be prepared 
to spend some 
quality time 
mastering the 
Warrior’s nuances; 
don't expect to destroy 
the universe the first time 
you jump on the stick. 

But once you have, you’ll 
never go back to pounding 
a keyboard. 

— Michael Brown 



The SpinControl feature in Logitech’s 
WingMan Warrior lets you run circles 
around your opponents. 



PRICE: $99 
COMPANY: LOGITECH 
PHONE: 800.321.7717 
URL: WWW.LOGITECH.COM 



bool verdict: 



An innovative, flexible specialty 
product for true gamers 



Warrior 



game being played. In Duke 
Nukem 3D, for example, 
button 2 opens doors, 
button 3 toggles through 
your inventory, and button 
4 uses an inventory item. 
The hat switch, meanwhile, 
controls your pitch (up and 
down) and allows you to 
crouch and jump. An analog 
thumbwheel beneath the 
SpinControl knob controls 
your run/walk speed in 
most games, but affects its 
sensitivity in a few others. 

I found the Warrior 
highly ergonomic, with my 
fingers naturally falling 
into the appropriate posi- 
tions. My biggest criticism is 
the placement of button 3, 
which is difficult to operate 




The PC ProgramPad is prepro- 
grammed with 30 special 
moves. You can add six more of 
your choice. 

PRICE: $49.95 
COMPANY: INTERACT 
ACCESSORIES 
PHONE: 410.785.5661 
URL: WWW.INTERACTACC 
.COM 



Cool programmability; uncool 
ergonomics 



• 

boot verdict: 



PC ProgramPad 

You can ’ t soar if you’ re sore 



Having just missed growing 
up with video games, my 
hand/eye coordination is 
not what it could be. I’m 
not a bad player, but I 
didn’t start training in 
preschool, either. My kids, 
on the other hand, evolved 
with games, and they have 
the enlarged thumbs and 
stubby fingernails to prove 
it. Whenever I muster the 
temerity to challenge them 
to a game— Mortal Kombat, 
for instance— they kick my 
ass (figuratively speaking, 
of course) with infuriating 
regularity. 

I thought Interact’s PC 
ProgramPad would be the 
answer. Instead of having 
to train my fingers into 
pulling off special moves, 



all I needed to do was pro- 
gram the keyboard (or but- 
ton-firing) sequences into 
the pad itself. After an hour 
of furious play, I was hold- 
ing my own against the 
kids, but the pad’s 
ergonomics had my hands 
curled into gnarled claws. If 
you like the Super Nintendo 
game pad, on the other 
hand, this one will be right 
up your alley. 

Instead of punching the 
forward key twice, the down 
key twice, the forward key 
again, and then the low- 
punch key to have Sheeva 
let loose one of her deadly 
fireballs in Mortal Kombat, 
you need only store the 
move into one of the pad’s 
six open memory slots. 



Thirty addi- 
tional moves, 
for games 
ranging from 
Primal Rage to 
Super Street 
Fighter II are already 
stored. 

A digital, eight-way, 
directional thumb pad is 
mounted on the left of the 
pad, and four fire buttons 
are mounted on the right. 
Two additional fire buttons 
are located on the top of 
the controller and are oper- 
ated by your left and right 
index fingers. Three addi- 
tional direction keys 
arranged around the four 
fire buttons make it easy to 
pull off strafing and side- 
stepping moves. 



An LCD in the middle of 
the controller displays 
which mode the device is in 
and lights up when the but- 
tons are pressed. This fea- 
ture makes programming 
the pad a snap. The 
ProgramPad is great, if your 
hands are small enough to 
manipulate it; otherwise, 
you’ll have to limit your 
game time to avoid cramps. 

— Michael Brown 



100 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 






Blow away four enemies as you 

maneuver your craft over constantly changing terrain in 
an attempt to save up to 200 hostages. An explosive • 
soundtrack and revolutionary technology make each 
of QAD's more than 20 deadly missions a blast. *. 



(Quintessential £rt of Destruction^ 



the ^as of Electrostatic 

your journey through the galaxy, 

more powerful ships and weapons. 
souTidtrack and 3D-like effects, 

you're in for the fight of your life. 



Nihilist 



survive 



>nly the toughest 
,0 find ft. most perfect specimen in an -e ~ 
So you better choose your character car 
Battle Stayer's killer audio and multiple play modes 
are sure to satisfy even the most discriminating 
taste for blood. • * 



Battle Slayer 

Product Information Number 114 
Hard-Core Games. 

Killer sound. Killer action. Killer games. ’Nuff said, 
Nr'i'niii^ For PC CD-ROM. 



http://tAfww.philipsgames.com 

© 1996 Philips Media, a division of Philips Electronics North America Corporation 






Nokia Multigraph 
447Xavc 

Multimedia monitor delivers 
sound and vision 



The Multigraph 447Xavc 
represents Nokia’s first gen- 
eration of integrated multi- 
media and video conferenc- 
ing monitors, bringing 
together a solid display, 
stereo speakers, and a 
color video camera. Perfect 
for all-night CU-SeeMe 
adventures. 

Nokia’s Multigraph dis- 
play is a 17-inch Trinitron 
flat screen monitor with 
.25mm dot pitch, covered 
with an anti-glare coating. 
Win 95’s Plug-and-Play 
option permits a maximum 



resolution of 1280x1024 
with an 85Hz refresh rate, 
and a max refresh of 150Hz 
at 640x480. 

But the Multigraph’s 
mark of distinction lies in 
the video system, which 
sports a hideaway camera 
(with 500x582 pixel resolu- 
tion) and an external video 
camera connector on the 
back of the display. A slid- 
ing panel, located below 
the face of the monitor, 
protects the camera lens 
when not in use. Unfortu- 
nately, video features 



The Nokia 447Xavc combines a 17-inch 
monitor, stereo speakers, and hideaway 
color video camera. 



require a video 
capture card 
not included 
with the moni- 
tor. The built-in 
microphone and speakers 
are also housed on the 
front of the unit. The two 
speakers (plus a subwoofer) 
played both classical and 
country music with ade- 
quate force and fidelity, but 
they’re not superior to even 
moderately priced stand- 
alone speakers. 

Unlike previous Nokia 
monitors, the Multigraph 



447Xavc’s display, camera, 
and sound parameters are 
controlled with on-screen 
menus, even for basic 
adjustments such as vol- 
ume control. The menus are 
exhaustive and logical, but 
the front-accessed controls 
in older models were easier 
and quicker to use. In addi- 
tion, weighing in at more 
than 50 pounds prevents 



usage with most swinging 
monitor stands. 

All said, the Nokia 
Multigraph 447Xavc is an 
eloquent collaboration of 
monitor, stereo sound, 
microphone, and video con- 
ferencing technology. Now 
all you have to do is find 
someone else similarly 
equipped. After all, it takes 
two to conference. 

— Tom King 

Tom King hosts the 
CompuTalk radio show, 
heard on Saturdays at the 
CompuTalk.com Web site. 



PRICE: $999 (ESTIMATED) 
COMPANY: NOKIA 
PHONE: 800.296.6542 
URL: WWW.NOKIA.COM 
/PRODUCTS/MONITORS 
ZMONITOR_447X.HTML 



boot verdict: 

Ultimate AW integration 






Chaos Overlords is short on 
visual appeal. All gameplay 
occurs on this 64-square matrix. 
The renderings of the gangs 
you seek to control are imagi- 
native, but they’re so tiny you 
can hardly see them. 



PRICE: $49.95 
COMPANY: NEW WORLD 
COMPUTING 
PHONE: 800.325.8898 
URL: NWCOMPUTING.COM 



Unappealing in terms of gameplay, 
visual and audio style, and premise 



boot verdict: 



S/^l 



Chaos Overlords 



Zen and the art of gang banging 



Chaos Overlords is the perfect game for bullies and thugs 
in training. It’s also great for nerdy, near-sighted, pimple- 
faced boys who are fed up with having their lunch money 
stolen. The game is like boot camp for the former audi- 
ence; it’s vicarious revenge for the latter. 

You play a futuristic crimelord, assembling gangs of 
criminals and murderers to intimidate the citizenry into 
supporting your cause. Five other crimelords— and the 
police— stand in your way. You need to battle both in 
your quest for domination. 



These boring combat sequences offer the only visual action 
during the game. 



If you can get past the 
game’s ugly premise, you’ll find 
a turn-based game rich with 
strategic detail and leavened 
with black humor. In the end, however, New World fails to 
pull it off because they don’t integrate this humor into 
gameplay. The bizarre gangs you encounter (you can con- 
trol as many as 80, including the Pinheads, the Dominatrix 
Clique, and the Bad Artists) are imaginative in their 
appearance and description, but they differ only statistical- 
ly. Some gangs are better at combat; others are better at 
stealth, but none have unique skills. 

Chaos Overlords supports head-to-head and multiplay- 
er gaming on a network or the Internet. The game’s com- 
plexity requires you to study the manual thoroughly; 
unfortunately, the document is printed in a hideous, all- 
caps font that is extremely difficult to read. 

I enjoy black humor as much as the next guy. I’ve 
blown up my share of toilets and exotic dancers while 
playing Duke Nukem 3D, for example. Shaking down the 
owner of a bowling alley, on the other hand, just isn’t my 
idea of fun. — Michael Brown 



102 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 











Nine Worlds 




Explore the solar system via disc and the Web 




Use the tools at the left to learn about Saturn's core and surface 
temperature, atmosphere, orbit, and diameter. Click the NetProbe 
to save a topic for later research on the Web. 



Interested in gathering a lit- 
tle information on jupiter? 
Conduct a Web search and 
you’ll find 50,000 Web sites 
containing that key word. A 
deep well of information to 
be sure, but just where do 
you begin? Nine Worlds, 
hosted by regal-voiced 
Patrick Stewart, harnesses 
the power of the Web and 
delivers the best of what 
CD-ROM technology has to 
offer at the same time. 

Stewart’s rich, reson- 
ant voice greets you and 
guides you from the start- 
up sequence to the naviga- 
tion icons. He is also pre- 
sent throughout the pro- 
gram to give additional 
information about the solar 
system via audio clips — 
just dick on the “Patrick 
Stewart Head” icon to hear 
more about a topic. 

Nine Worlds has three 
main sections, Planets, 
Mankind’s View (a historical 
tour of astronomy), and 
Resource Explorer (an inter- 
face to access related areas 
such as lists of related 
shareware and publications, 
a points of interest map, 
a revolving This Day in 
Astronomy calendar, and a 
link to a superb online con- 
nection). Each section is 
easily accessed from the ini- 
tial screen or from the main 
menu. But it’s the link to 
Palladium’s Web site that 
makes this CD special: This 
disc will never go out of 



date because you’ll never 
run out of data to explore. 

Click on one of nine 
planets and up pops a full- 
screen view of its globe 
(the disc has more than 500 
archival satellite and tele- 
scope photos). Click again 
on the planet’s surface to 
see its core and learn about 
its internal and surface 
temperature, atmosphere, 
orbital patterns and diame- 
ter. You can also access 
an FMV window supported 
by Stewart’s narration and 
read brief articles about 
the planet, its moons and 
its exploration. 

If you want to learn 
more, select the NetProbe 
icon, and Nine Worlds will 
automatically save your 
planetary topics. Then go 
to the Resource Explorer, 
which lets you jump 
seamlessly from the CD- 



ROM to the Nine Worlds 
Web site, where the pro- 
gram creates a custom Web 
page with links to up-to- 
date Internet sites related 
to your selected topics. 

(You can also access the 
site via CompuServe and 
AOL.) The home page also 
offers an astronomy chat 
room, a Cosmic Collection 
of shareware, and links 
to cool Stellar Sites such 
as NASA, the Hubble 
Telescope, and the Jet 
Propulsion Labs. (You can 
visit these places on your 
own, but Nine Worlds saves 
you from time-consuming 
searches and is frequently 
updated with new links.) 

Nine Worlds is an out- 
standing package with stun- 
ning visuals, timely informa- 
tion and outstanding inte- 
grated Web access. And for 
$39.95, it’s a bargain. 

— Angela LoSasso 



PRICE: $39.95 

COMPANY: PALLADIUM 

INTERACTIVE 

PHONE : 800.910.2696 

URL: WWW. PAL LA D I U M 



NET.COM 


93% 


£ I 

bool verdict: 


Stunning visuals, killer Web 



integration 




The Nine Worlds Web site holds your custom-made page of 
NetProbe topics and offers nine sites with tons of links for your 
astronomical pleasure. 




from \/oyetrcz. 

The experts in computer music 
To order, or for more information: 

1 * 800 * 233+9377 

Voyetra Technologies 

Dept. BT • 5 Odell Plaza -Yonkers • NY 10701 
Phone:914.966.0600 - Fax: 914.966.1 102 
http://www.voyetra.com • info@voyetra.com 

Discovering Keyboards is a trademark of Voyetra Technologies. 

Product Information Number 122 











"Can I Get Higher 
Performance?” 



“...Cyrix 6x86 " systems achieve fastest Winstone scores ever. ” 

- PC Magazine Labs Online , Fcbruaiy 21, / 996 




The New Generation PC With Syn-DRAM 

e - 



►. 



BYTE 



Designed for 

■ntk 

m 

Microsoft ' 
Windows' 95 



When it comes to your 
computer, performance 
is all that counts. Top- 
notch, record-breaking 
performance. With the 
latest Cyrix 6x86 processors, 
you get the only microprocessing 
engine that rockets beyond the 
133, 150 and 166 MHz Pentium® 
processors. You get the Cyrix 
performance plus 

Proven Windows 95, Windows 
for Workgroups, Windows 3.x, 
DOS and OS/2 compatibility 
Advanced 6th-generation 
architecture: Superpipelined, 
Register Renaming, Multi-Branch 
Prediction, Speculative Execution 
Optimized speed for the newest 
32-bit software 



Poly PI 66 CX 



♦ Cyrix 6x86 PI 66+ 

♦ 16 MB SDRAM - 64-bit 

♦ 17” digital monitor 



♦ 512 K cache 

♦ 6x CD-ROM 

♦ 16-bit sound 



http://www.cyiix.com 




♦ Seagate 2.1 GB hard drive 

♦ 28.8 modem, fax, voice mail, speaker phone 

♦ 128-bit graphic with 2 MB multibank DRAM 




6x86 PI 66+ 
Pentium 166 

6x86 PI 50+ 
Pentium 150 

6x86 PI 33+ 
Pentium 133 



Norton SI v. 8.0 



1901 



1526 



1814 



475 



1746 




679 



POLYWELL 

Computers, Inc. 

800 - 999-1278 

415 - 583-7222 

www.polywell.com 
1461 San Mateo Ave. 
So. S.F., CA 94080 



Cyrix and the Cyrix 6x86 logos are trademarks of Cyrix Corporation. ©1996 Cyrix Corporation. All rights reserved. All brands and names are the property of their respective owners. 



Product Information Number 124 





REVIEWS 




sy^] 



Frank Lloyd Wright: 

Presentation and Conceptual Drawings 







There’s no denying the talent of Frank Lloyd 
Wright. His career spanned 70 prolific years and 
changed the face of 20th-century architecture. 
Now Wright goes digital with a copious four-disc 
collection to match his career. 

Frank Lloyd Wright: Presentation and 
Conceptual Drawings presents an unprecedented 
number of Wright’s drawings— some 5,000 
images produced between 1885 and 1959. 

Drawn from the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives (an 
ongoing effort to document Wright’s work con- 
taining 21,000 original drawings), the discs offer 
comprehensive coverage of more than 860 pro- 
jects. Even if you have a substantial knowledge 
of Wright’s work, you will find projects and 
images you never knew existed. The variety is 
amazing. To compensate for any gaps in the 



The futuristic aesthetic of Wright’s later work is illus- 
trated in this worm’s-eye view of the Huntington 
Hartford Resort and Athletic Club, 1946. 



The Presentation and Conceptual Drawings discs contain 
that will surprise, such as this rose marble presentation 
tive of the Guggenheim museum, 1943. 



documentation of some projects, addi- 
tional materials are provided, includ- 
ing: working drawings, magazine 
pages, and photographs of drawings 
that no longer exist. 

Luna Imaging captured each image 
at 4000x5000 pixels from 4x5-inch 
transparencies of the original drawings, 
and has taken pains to ensure the 
color-match of the images is true to 
the original drawings. 

There are several ways to search 
for data about the projects and draw- 
ings, including Boolean searches. But 
don’t expect detailed analyses. This is 
serious Wright eye-candy. These im- 
ages speak for themselves. Information 
about the project’s characteristics, such 
as its location, and dates of execution is provid- 
ed, as well as data specific to each drawing 
such as the name of the draftsman and the 
medium in which the drawing was executed; but 
that’s the extent of the text. 

Index, the first disc in the set, provides 
thumbnails of all the images at a customizable 
base resolution (you have a choice of four, with 
a default setting of 112x75 pixels). This can be 
maximized to four times the thumbnail size and 
then a second enlargement to the full size of 
your display screen. Continue to zoom or try to 
maximize a thumbnail beyond these resolutions 
and the program suggests you insert Image 
discs two, three, or four to view the image at 
maximum resolution. So, there’s no way to 
avoid disc swapping. You could stay confined to 
the Index disc’s thumbnails, but you 
would be cheating yourself of the glo- 
rious detail captured in the maximum 
res images (up to 1280x1024) and a 
24-bit color depth that’s inimitable. 

Wright’s drawings are powerful, 
achieving a perfect balance between 
the aesthetic and the utilitarian. Luna’s 
documentation of Wright uses an 
application called Insight. This soft- 
ware provides a simple and subdued 
interface, allowing the images to stand 
out. Each time you select a drawing, 
an Image Toolbar appears that allows 
you to pan, maximize, zoom, crop, and 
adjust its contrast and brightness. The 
ability to zoom and crop images 
enables you to view drawings at a 



By looking at the images on the Wright discs you can trace the 
development of Wright’s architectural ideas. This selection of per- 
spectives from Wright’s early career through to his later years 
illustrates his changing style. 



Frank Lloyd Wnght: Presentation and Conceptual 
Drawings features a low-key interface, which allows 
the illustrations to stand out 

level of detail not possible in book form. You 
can group images for direct comparison on one 
screen. The discs offer plenty of customizing 
options allowing you to create and save groups 
of images, and arrange the thumbnail layout. 

Presentation and Conceptual Drawings is the 
daddy of all Wright multimedia titles. This is an 
awesome visual resource. But in my opinion, the 
hefty price tag can only be justified for higher 
education institutions and hard-core Wright 
buffs. If you want to live, breath, and die 
Wright, this digital collection is perfect for you. 

— Ingrid Bush 

PRICE: $1 ,200 

COMPANY: LUNA IMAGING 

PHONE: 310.452.8370 

URL: WWW.LUNA-IMAGING.COM 



images 

perspec- 



hoot verdict 



The Wright one, for a price 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 105 







Battleground 3: Waterloo 



Invest your time wisely 



Battleground 3: Waterloo recreates the complexities of battle. Winning and losing involves numerous 
variables including unit strength and fatigue, weather conditions, and the type of terrain. 



I’ve never been a fan of 
hex-grid military sims. Even 
as a kid, I couldn’t make it 
all the way through those 
Avalon-Hill board games. 
They bored me. Give me a 
good game of Risk, Stratego 
or Battleship any day. 

That was until I started 
playing TalonSoft’s Battle- 
ground series. 

TalonSoft has established 
itself as the leader in mili- 
tary sims with its revolu- 
tionary Battleview combat 
system in Battleground 1: 
Ardennes. Fortunately for 
warmongers, TalonSoft did- 
n’t rest on its laurels, and 
Battleground 3: Waterloo is 
easily the best in the series. 

Despite its hex-grid for- 
mat, Waterloo has what 
military sim fans want: 
an easy-to-use interface, 
excellent graph- 
ics, authentic 
war footage and 
soundtrack, and 
combat-video 
clips. And most 
importantly, his- 
torical accuracy. 

TalonSoft has 
also added 
several more 
what-if scenarios, 
which were conspicuously 
absent in Battleground 2: 
Gettysburg. 

But Waterloo's most 
significant upgrade feature 
is the A/I; it’s no longer 



a pushover, being more 
intelligent and less pre- 
dictable. The computer 
opponent is much more 
aggressive, especially 
when playing as the French. 
Like Napoleon, the A/I 
can move large numbers 
of troops and use them 
in lightning strikes before 
you prepare a defense. 

Waterloo has 22 scenar- 
ios and offers more than 
just this one history-chang- 
ing battle. The scenarios 
range from the historic 
four-turn “Napoleon’s 
Charge,” a French assault 
on the Anglo-Allied center, 
to the 54-turn fictitious con- 
frontation called “It’s a 
Great Day for a Battle,” 
a what-if scenario that 
gives Napoleon the perfect 
weather that many histori- 



ans believe could have led 
to a French victory. 

But beware, Waterloo 
requires a major time invest- 
ment. One turn, which con- 
sists of six different phases, 



can last from 20 to 45 min- 
utes. A four- or six-turn sce- 
nario can take as many as 
six to eight hours to 
complete. The Battle 
of Waterloo, the his- 
toric 44-turn sce- 
nario, took more 
than a full week 
to finish. 

Speaking of 
time consumption, 
installing the 
Typical Game ver- 
sion of Waterloo 
took more than two 
hours and ate more than 
100MB of disk space. 

(The Custom Game 
version took more than 
three hours.) 



There are several ways 
to watch the action unfold. 
The close-up 3D perspective 
miraculously made the 
action come to life on 
my screen. Unfortunately, 
the units are so big and 
so detailed in this 3D 
perspective that you 
can only see about one- 
tenth of the battlefield 
at one time. 

To see it all, use the 
normal 2D shot. It covers 
more ground and is easier 
to use if you move a lot 
of units during a particular 
phase. This is also true 
when it comes to your 
opponent’s movements 
and attacks. 



One drawback of 
Waterloo's hex-grid format 
is that you lose the ebb 
and flow of battle. Unlike 
many other military sims, 
you can’t randomly stop 
the action and make tactical 
adjustments. Only in certain 
phases can you move or 
fire weapons, so the battle 
loses a great deal of its 
continuity. Winning or 
losing an engagement 
involves so many variables 
(unit strength, fatigue, 
the terrain, etc.) that even 
Mr. Spock would come 
away with a migraine. 

But these are minor 
complaints. Battleground 3: 
Waterloo offers the com- 
plete military sim package. 
An aspiring general couldn’t 
ask for more. 

— Andrew Miller 




Waterloo offers historic battles and what-if scenarios. 



PRICE: $44.95 
COMPANY: TALONSOFT 
PHONE: 410.933.9191 
URL: WWW. TALONSOFT 



87 % 



Waterloo's improved A/I will put a 
hex on you 



.COM 

boot verdict: 





The sim’s A/I provides a challenging opponent, mobilizing large numbers of troops before you have a chance to prepare your defense. 



106 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 



REVIEWS 




P/W\ 



Gateway 2000 P5-166XL 



A tower of power 



Gateway 2000’s P5-166XL 
might not be the prettiest 
machine around, but if 
you’re looking for a power 
box you can customize like 
a classic Chevy, then this is 
the machine for you. 
Equipped with a 166MHz 
Pentium, 16MB of EDO 
DRAM, 512k of pipeline- 
burst cache, and enough 
open drive bays to accom- 
modate a pay-per-view 
video-delivery system, the 
XL is a builders’ dream. 

Video and graphics 
acceleration are handled by 
a Matrox MGA Millennium 
64-bit graphics card occupy- 
ing one PCI slot. The MGA- 
2064W chip on the Millen- 
nium, and the card’s use of 
fast, dual-ported Window 
RAM, makes it a power- 

Double Take 

/f you hare the rea/ 
estate for it C the 
tower is 2-3 inches 
ta//), this is the 
for you . 

Performance wif/ 
satisfy a// but the 
most hard-core 
workstation jockey ; 
and when it comes 
to upgrading, a// 
that space reaffy 
pays off . 

— Brad Dosland 



house for 2D and 3D apps 
in both DOS and Windows. 
Unfortunately, few publish- 
ers have ported their 3D 
games to the Millennium 
because it lacks important 
gaming features, including 
the ability to perform per- 
spective-corrected texture 
mapping in real time. If 
you’re more interested in 
creative pursuits, Asymetrix 
has a version of 3D F/X 
specifically for the Millen- 
nium, and it flies. 

The Millennium delivered 
exceptional results with our 



Descent and Duke tests. 
Running at 320x200, the 
card pumped out 76fps in 
Descent II and 85fps in 
Duke Nukem 3D. Cranked 
up to 640x480, the card put 
out 29fps in Descent II and 
29.5fps in Duke. The card 
ran into problems running 
Descent II at 800x600, but 
it delivered 20fps running 
Duke at that res — virtually 
crushing the performance of 
Packard Bell’s Platinum Pro 
P166 (see the review on 
page 108). 

You’ll find plenty of 
other delicious components 
stuffed into this two-foot- 
tall tower, including an Intel 
Thor motherboard with a 
Triton chipset, four full- 
length PCI slots, and three 
full-length ISA slots. Two of 
the four SIMM slots are 
open and ready for expan- 
sion. An Ensoniq Sound- 
scape wavetable sound card 
(with 1MB of sounds in 
ROM) occupies one of the 
ISA slots, a Gateway 
TelePath 28.8 fax/modem 
(manufactured by U.S. Ro- 
botics) takes another. The 
unit we reviewed had an 
optional Ethernet adapter in 
its third ISA slot. (Have a 
couple of castoff PCs laying 
around the house? Drop 
cheap Ethernet cards in 
them and build a house 
LAN for game tourneys.) 

A massive fan mounted 
beneath the power supply 
draws air in and blows it 
directly across the CPU’s 
heat sink and then down 
through the rest of the card 
cage. (If you can’t rope 
anyone into dusting your 
room, this arrangement 
might eventually result in 
an exploding population of 
dust bunnies inside the 
case.) Mounts for a second 
fan are thoughtfully placed 




The Gateway 2000 P5-166 XL is an expansionist’s dream, with drive bays and slots galore and 
plenty of room work with. 



above the power supply 
and at the bottom front of 
the case. You might need 
them if you fill the three 
open 5.25-inch drive bays 
accessible from the front 
bezel, the two open 3.5- 
inch drive bays above 
the power supply, and the 
two open 3.5-inch drive 
bays next to the 2.5GB 
Western Digital Caviar 
hard drive. 



The Gateway sparkled 
when it came to the Ziff- 
Davis benchmark suite, 
although its Wearnes 8x 
CD-ROM drive scored a dis- 
appointing 506KB/sec on 
the CD-ROM WinMark 96 
test. (Gateway has since 
dropped the Wearnes in 
favor of a Toshiba 8x.) The 
system scored 24.1 million 
pixels per second on the 
Graphics WinMark (at 



under the hood 



the brains 


CPU 


..166MHz Intel Pentium 


Cache 


..512k pipeline burst 


RAM 


..16MB EDO DRAM (128MB max) 


Video 


..Matrox MGA Millennium, 




2MB WRAM 


tne Drawn 


Hard Drive 


..2.5GB Western Digital Caviar 


CD-ROM 


,..8x Wearnes (now shipping with 




Toshiba 8x) 


Expansion Bus... 


,..4 full-length PCI, 3 full-length ISA 


Fax/Modem 


...28.8Kbps Gateway TelePath 


tne oeauty 



Monitor Gateway DX175 (17-inch aperture 

grille) 

Sound Card Ensoniq Soundscape (1MB sounds 

in ROM) 

Speakers Altec Lansing ACS-400 with 

ACS-250 subwoofer 



800x600 with 16-bit color 
depth) and 1030KB/sec on 
the Disk WinMark. 

The Altec Lansing ACS- 
400 speakers and ACS-250 
subwoofer are plenty loud, 
but they’re by no means an 
audiophile’s dream. The 
speakers are relatively 
noisy, and they distort 
when cranked. 

The inclusion of a Dolby 
Pro-Logic surround-sound 
decoder seems impressive, 
but very few game sound- 
tracks are encoded with this 
technology. (Origin’s Wing 
Commander IV is one of the 
few.) The Ensoniq Sound- 
scape in this system is 
good, but it can’t compete 
with Creative Labs’ AWE32 
or Yamaha’s new XG card. 

With its raw power and 
expansibility, the P5-166XL 
is a monster, and you’re 
Dr. Frankenstein. 

— Michael Brown 



PRICE: S3, 149 
COMPANY: GATEWAY 2000 
PHONE: 888.200.0629 
URL: WWW.GW2K.COM 



bool verdict: 



Power to spare and room 
to expand 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 107 





RDC-i 

Digital Camera 

If it moves, shoot it 

Ricoh’s new RDC-1 digital camera looks like an old Kodak 
Instamatic, but it does more than take snapshots. The 
camera records images, audio, and full-motion video to 
thin flash-memory cards. 

An 8MB card can store up to 81 images with 24-bit 
color depth and resolution of 768x480 pixels. Alternatively, 
you can annotate 57 images with 10 seconds of audio each. 
Full-motion video capture is more of a gimmick than a use- 
ful feature; a single 5-second clip fills an entire 8MB card. 




The camera maintains excellent color fidelity. The image on the 
left was taken in full shade; the one on the right in full sun. 




Ricoh’s RDC-1 digital 
camera features an optional 
2.5-inch LCD display. 



Attach the pivoting LCD video monitor and you can see and 
hear your clips on the spot. The monitor has a built-in speaker 
and a connection for an AC adapter and battery charger. 

The diminutive camera (with 3X zoom) is comfortable 
to hold, fits easily in a shirt pocket, and tips the scales at 
just 11 ounces. The monitor adds 8 ounces to the package, 
but the combined assembly feels fragile. And without a 
lens cover, it’s too easy to put fingerprints on the lenses. 

A tripod mount, shutter timer, and remote control make it 
easy to take self portraits. 

You can use Ricoh’s playback adapter to transfer the 
still-image and video files (including sound) to your PC or 
through a modem to an online service. The camera can 
also receive files through a modem if you attach the 
optional communication adapter. 

The RDC-1 takes better pictures than most other digital 
cameras, but quality comes at a price: A fully configured 
system with a single 8MB flash-memory card sells for more 
than $3,000. 

- Michael Brown 



specs 

Video resolution: 420 
lines. CCD: 1/3-inch 
array; 410,000 pixels. 
Lenses: f7.i - f2i.3mm, 

F: 2.8; 9 elements in 4 
groups. Recording for- 
mat: JPEG for images; 
ADPCM for audio. 
Dimensions: 
5.25x2.75x75 inches 

Note: Ricoh offers an entry- 
level model and will introduce 
a high-end model in December. 

PRICE: CAMERA, PLAY- 
BACK ADAPTER, REMOTE, 
AND SOFTWARE $1,699; 
8MB MEMORY CARD 
$639; 2.5-INCH LCD 
MONITOR $539; ACCES- 
SORY KIT $219 
COMPANY: RICOH 
PHONE: 800.225.1899 
URL: RICOH.CO.JP 



85 % 



High-resolution images and awe- 
some flexibility, but steep pricing 



/INDEX_E.HTML 

boot verdict: 



Packard Bell Platinum Pro under the hood 



A bootWorthy imposter 

Here’s a sheep in wolfs clothing. The Platinum Pro’s spec 
sheet reads like a power user’s dream: 166MHz Pentium, 
24MB of RAM, 2GB hard drive, and six expansion slots. 
Crack the case and run a few benchmarks, however, and 
you’ll discover the bleating heart of a pretender. 

The Platinum’s case looks like it was designed for the 
high seas, with a broad base measuring a full 11 inches 
across. Open it and you’ll discover the motherboard lying 
at the bottom of this tray like a geriatric with a broken hip. 
A riser board containing three PCI slots and three ISA slots 
sticks up from its middle. One slot is occupied by a 
sound/telephony card. 




Packard Bell’s Platinum Pro is 11 inches wide 
across the base to accomodate the motherboard. 



would have included support brackets 
(for full-size cards) and a cooling fan (in 
addition to the one on the power sup- 
ply and the mini on the CPU’s heat 
sink). And they wouldn’t have rendered 
the third PCI and ISA slots useless with 
the unfortunate placement of the afore- 
mentioned CPU fan and heat sink. 

All four of the machine’s SIMM slots 
are occupied, so you’ll have to chuck 
half its RAM in order to upgrade. 

The Platinum’s pathetic benchmark 
numbers are due largely to Packard 
Bell’s decision to use an asynchronous 
cache (instead of pipeline-burst) and 
Cirrus Logic’s DRAM-based CL-5440 
graphics accelerator on the mother- 
board. Ziff-Davis’ Winbench 96 reported a Graphics 
WinMark of just 5.5 million pixels per second (with 64K 
colors displayed at 800x600 resolution) and and a Disk 
WinMark of only 913KB/sec. 

Our Duke Nukem 3D and Descent II tests reported equally 
wimpy results. Even with Duke set to 320x200 resolution, the 
Platinum was capable of producing just 51.5fps of action. At 
640x480 resolution, the frame count dropped to 17fps. 

Buy this machine and you’ll find yourself drinking 
Woolite in no time. Baaaahhhh! 

— Michael Brown 



the brains 

CPU 

Cache 

RAM 

Video 


..166MHz Intel Pentium 
..256k asynchronous 
..24MB DRAM 
..CL-5440, 1MB DRAM 


me Drawn 


Hard Drive 


..Seagate ST32140A EIDE 


CD-ROM 


..NEC CDR-1300A 6x 


Expansion Bus... 


..3 full-length PCI, 
3 full-length ISA 


Fax/Modem 


..28.8Kbps 


me oeauty 


Monitor 


..Packard Bell 1512SL 
(15-inch shadow mask) 


Sound Card 


..FM synth 


Speakers 


..powered stereo, attached 
to the monitor 



PRICE: $2,849 
COMPANY: PACKARD BELL 
PHONE: 800.733.5858 
URL: WWW. PACKARD BELL 
.COM 



boot verdict: 



Gene Wilder would love this PC 



108 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 







REVIEWS 



Hewlett-Packard 

Pavilion 7130P 



Scanning the horizon 



Hewlett-Packard has found 
a new use for the 5.25-inch 
drive bay: a home for a 
Storm EasyPhoto scanner. 

It’s a fantastic idea; unfor- 
tunately, it’s about the only 
innovation you’ll find in this 
otherwise pedestrian 
133MHz Pentium system. 

The EasyPhoto scanner 
(which HP has dubbed the 
PhotoDrive) is a treat to 
use; you just slip a snap- 
shot (5x7-inch max) in the 
slot. The scanner automati- 
cally pulls it in, scans it, 
launches Storm’s EasyPhoto 
software, then spits out the 
photo. The scanner’s optics 
are capable of 400dpi reso- 
lution, but Storm’s software 
interpolation boosts that up 
to 2400dpi. Once scanned, 
you can crop, size, color 
correct, and perform numer- 
ous other editing operations 



on the image. It’s no 
Photoshop, but it’s fun. 

Priced at $2,499, the 
Pavilion 7130P is competi- 
tively priced, especially 
when you take into account 
the built-in scanner (which 
sells for about $200 on its 
own) and HP’s huge soft- 
ware bundle (which includes 
Microsoft’s Works and 
Encarta 96, Intuit’s Quicken 
SE Multimedia Edition, 
and Maxis’ SimCity 2000). 
Whether you want or need 
the extras is another story. 

The other components in 
this system are much less 
exciting. Intel’s Holly moth- 
erboard features Intel’s 
Triton chipset, but only two 
of its seven expansion slots 
are PCI, the rest are ISA. 
What’s worse, the expan- 
sion bus is located on a 
riser card that must be 




HP’s PhotoDrive (a Storm EasyPhoto scanner) digitizes 5x7-inch 
photos at 400dpi. 



unscrewed and 
removed in order to 
access the SIMMs. The HP 
The machine is 
shipped with 16MB of FPM 
DRAM, leaving two slots 
free. 

The chassis has three 
5.25-inch drive bays acces- 
sible from the front bezel, 
all of which are occupied. 

A handy swing-out cage will 
accommodate two internal 
3.5-inch devices. Two noisy 
fans keep internal tempera- 
tures down. Study the out- 
side of the HP’s curvaceous 
case and you’ll notice that 
it lacks a hardware reset 
button; you’ll have to pull 
the plug if the system 
hangs. There’s also what 
looks like an infrared comm 
port, but further examina- 
tion reveals there is noth- 
ing behind the lens. 

The S3 64V+ video 
chipset with 1MB of DRAM 
on the motherboard deliv- 
ered solid but not mind- 
boggling performance in 
our game tests. (You can 
shut down the on-board 
video if you decide to 
upgrade via a PCI card.) 

At 320x200, the system 
racked up 52.5fps and 
57fps in Duke Nukem 3D 
and Descent II, respectively. 
At 640x480, performance 
dropped to 20fps and 
21fps, and at 800x600, it 
collapsed to lOfps and 9fps. 

Ziff-Davis’ WinBench 96 
reported a Graphics WinMark 
of just 4.4 million pixels 
per second (with 64,000 
colors displayed at 800x600 
resolution); its 1.6GB 
Maxtor EIDE drive scored 
a Disk WinMark of only 
663KB/sec, and the Mitsumi 
6x CD-ROM drive scored 




Pavilion 7130P features a scanner built directly into the chassis. 



only 479KB/sec on the CD- 
ROM WinMark test. These 
relatively low benchmarks 
can be explained in large 
measure by HP’s decision 
to use a 256k asynchronous 
DRAM cache instead of a 
pipeline burst cache, and 
FPM DRAM instead of 
EDO DRAM. 

The 7130P failed to 
deliver much audio excite- 
ment because its Crystal 
Semiconductor CS4232 chip 
offers only FM synthesis- 
good thing all those ISA 
slots are available. 

Although this model is 
classified as a multimedia 
system, it doesn’t include 
speakers; those come 
attached to the optional 
monitor, where they stick 
out like Ross Perot’s ears. 
Unless you can’t stand 



mismatched components, 
you’d be well advised to 
skip the passive Altec 
Lansings that HP offers in 
favor of something with 
more kick. 

Perhaps that’s the best 
way to sum up this entire 
system: The PhotoDrive 
is a lot of fun, but it’s 
stuck in a milquetoast box. 
Skip the 7130P in favor 
of a machine with more 
horsepower. 

— Michael Brown 



PRICE: $2,499 
COMPANY: HEWLETT- 
PACKARD 

PHONE: 800.724-6631 
URL: WWW.HP.COM 



bool verdict: 



PhotoDrive lends a high gee-whiz 
factor, but the rest of the package 
doesn’t hold up 



under the hood 

the brains 

CPU 133MHz Intel Pentium 

External Cache 256k asynchronous 

RAM 16MB FPM DRAM (128MB max) 

Video S3 64V+,1MB DRAM on the 

motherboard 

the brawn 

Hard Drive 1.6GB Maxtor 71626AP, EIDE 

CD-ROM 6x Mitsumi FX600S 

Expansion 2 full-length PCI, 5 full-length ISA 

Fax/Modem 28.8Kbps 

the beauty 

Other Built-in 5x7 400dpi Storm EasyPhoto 

scanner 

Sound Crystal Semiconductor FM synth on 

the motherboard 

Monitor HP D3859A 17-inch Invar shadow 

mask (optional, $749) 

Speakers Altec Lansing HP 1200 (integrated 

into monitor) 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 109 






Duke Nukem 3D 

A testosterone-injected E-ticket ride through the 




end of the 



world 







The telltale red lines of trip bombs send a clear message: Go away! 



Duke Nukem 3D 

You can edit the user.con file 
with any text editor to change 
weapon strengths, maximum 
ammo, and other variables. Be 
careful: Changes are universal. 
As your shotgun becomes a 
cannon, so will the Pig Cop's. 



Everything in Duke’s world can 
be worked over. Witness this 
stained-glass window’s 
response to a hail of lead. 



Matters can get more than a little hairy with Duke Nukem 3D. Even if you’re packing serious heat 



Duke Nukem 3ffs death scenes can 
get a little graphic. 



Hunt for Red October ) 
through the underwater 
hatch, you notice. As you 
board the working subway 
train, looking out the front 
window moments before 
mowing down some unwary 
soul that wandered onto 
the tracks, you notice. And 
it’s the small things. Losing 



started in 1991 when 
Apogee released the side- 
scrolling platform game 
Duke Nukem and continued 
in 1993 with Duke Nukem 
II. Duke Nukem 3D was 
created by 3D Realms, the 
label Apogee releases 3D 
games under. 

This game has it all. 
More than 24 levels of a 
fully immersive world that 
goes far beyond anything 
ever seen on screen before. 
If you’re searching for God, 
and if God is in the details, 
then God can be found in 
Duke Nukem 3D. These are 
not just levels to be com- 
pleted, they are worlds to 
be explored. 

As you run down a city 
street, glancing over your 
shoulder at the pigs in rock- 
et scooters who pursue you 
through an urban canyon of 
skyscrapers, you notice the 
details. As you plunge into 
the blue water and swim 
down through underwater 
canyons or board the USS 
Dallas submarine (from The 



... choice words will be shared over 
cubicle walls for that bastard who 
tossed a pipe bomb into the elevator 
just as the door was closing. 



“Come get some.” 

That is the call of Duke 
Nukem (and an homage to 
Bruce Campbell’s character 
in the Evil Dead series) as 
he discovers early 21st-cen- 
tury Los Angeles has been 
captured by alien perverts. 
Duke takes foot (and pistol 
and shotgun and chaingun 
and grenade launcher 
and...) to rid the seedy porn 
stores and strip joints of his 
beloved home of the 
menagerie of baddies that 
infest the fair city. Talk 
about your illegal aliens. 
Critters include a Predator- 
inspired warrior, a stop- 
drop-and-shoot Pig Cop, a 
hissing, chaingun-wielding 
reptile, and the biggest, 
baddest bosses ever seen 
in a first-person blast fest. 

Duke Nukem 3D is the 
third installment in the 
Duke Nukem series, which 



a point of health for 
plugging your finger 
into an electrical sock- 
et, getting 10 points 
back for taking a whiz 
at the urinal. 

As you enter the 
pool hall in the second 
level, you see a table 
all set up to play a 
game. Hopping atop 
the table to traverse 



The LAPD pigs will come after you with 
shotguns blazing in Duke Nukem 3D. 

As in real life, the secret to survival is 
superior firepower. 



110 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 




REVIEWS 







PRICE: $39.95 
COMPANY: 3D REALMS/ 
FORMGEN 

PHONE: 800.337.3256 
URL: WWW.3DREALMS 
.COM 



All your cops 'n' robbers fantasies 
fulfilled 



hoot verdict 



Waste this critter, then grab some of the goodies that float by on 
the circling sushi boats. 



Much of the sights and sounds 
of Duke Nukem 3D are on the 
risque side. The software comes 
with a parental lockout., but 
who wants to miss out on such 
gems as “Your ass, your face... 
what’s the difference?” 



the room, you hear the 
balls clank about. When you 
glance back, the balls have 
been scattered. Try using 
your pistol to sink a few 
balls. It’s a game within a 
game. You can hit the space 
bar while alongside the 
table to shoot the balls too. 

Blast an alien standing 
in a vertically opening door- 
way, and the door will come 
down and squish the body. 
Then, every time the door 
opens, gooey alien 
guts stretch be- 
tween the two 
halves of the door. 

How is all this 
possible? From the 
Duke Nukem FAQ : 

“3D Realms’ Build 
Engine is much like 
the engine used in 
Doom, but with 
advancements such 
as looking up and 
down, reflective 
floors, mirrors, true 
rooms above rooms, multi- 
colored lighting ( Doom only 
had white lights), moving 
vehicles, translucent sprites 



(for ghosts, explosions, win- 
dows, etc.), rotating sprites, 
and much more. The sectors 
that make up a map can 
move during gameplay. This 
allows, for example, doors 
to swing open and staircas- 
es to move. Also, the level 
editor is in full 3D mode. 
With this feature, one can 
play the game as they add 
and change levels. Next, the 
frame rate is not limited to 
35 frames per second.” 



just when you think 
you’ve mastered the game, 
you can fire up the multi- 
player modes. First, there is 



Scattered throughout the game are sta- 
tions where you can access the surveil- 
lance video cameras located throughout 
the levels. Take a peek at the reception 
awaiting you at the submarine. 



Beautiful shot of the moon... too bad there’s a hostile reptile with a chaingun screwing up the view. 



dedicated network gaming 
services, such as Total 
Entertainment Network 
and Dwango. 

Ultimately, Duke Nukem 
3D is an extremely difficult 
game to review. It contains 
too many savory details 
(such as jetpacks, remote- 
trigger pipe bombs, the 
glowing red beams of laser- 
triggered trip bombs, 
enormous buildings that 
explode and crumble to the 
ground, a shrinking ray that 
allows you to reduce your 
opponent to chihuahua pro- 
portions and stomp him 
into cocktail sauce... there 
I go again, getting all 
caught up). And, it’s hard 
to come up with anything 
to be critical of. 

It is, as Duke is fond of 
saying when he finds a new 
toy, “Groovy!” 

— Brad Dosland 



Duke Nukem 3D 

In the arcade upstairs from the 
movie theater in the first level , 
step up to the Duke Nukem II 
game and press the space bar. 
Duke will tell you some rather 
personal info, a panel will slide 
open and you'll get a Holo- 
Duke that allows you to leave 
behind a holographic projection 
of yourself that will draw 
unfriendly fire away from you. 



the usual modem and serial 
link play. But Duke Nukem 
3D is at its best when up 
to eight players enter a 
DukeMatch over an IPX net- 
work connection. F-keys 
launch custom taunts, and 
choice words will be shared 
over cubicle walls for that 
bastard who tossed a pipe 
bomb into the elevator just 
as the door was closing. 
The game also supports 



The LAPD’s pigs have taken to 
sky carts in the future. 



The Essential Duke Nukem 3D Cheat Codes 


Code 


Effect 


dnkroz 


god mode (on and off) 


dnstuf f 


all the weapons with maximum ammo, plus all keys 


dni terns 


maximum armor, plus all keys 


dnhyper 


unlimited steroids 


dncl ip 


turns dipping mode off (great for getting past obstacles) 


dnscotty## 


warps to a specific episode/level 

(the first #is the episode, the second #is the level) 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 



111 










REVIEWS 



Web.Designer 

A strong program surrounded by suspect garnish 



Corel’s Web.Designer is a tasty catch... with an 
odd aftertaste. On one hand, the actual applica- 
tion is a great way for both amateur arachnids 
and Web masters alike to spin their creations, 
with its combination of a friendly and capable 
interface plus Corel’s entire Web.Gallery Internet- 
ready clip-art gallery. The majority of these 
8,000-plus images are very good (used in mod- 
eration). 

On the other hand, the program comes with 
more than 100 “professionally designed” tem- 
plates. The question is: A professional what? 
Plumber? Tree surgeon? NFL place kicker? 
Nobody with a shard of taste would use one of 
these templates without subbing out every sin- 
gle element. Maybe that’s the idea. But seeing 
some of the crap on the Web these days, I’m 
worried that with this as a starting point, Corel 
may actually be contributing to the oxymoron 
“Web page design.” 

The exception is the useful collection of 10 
form templates. While the aesthetic considera- 
tions for many of the pages leave much to be 
desired, the code provided will save you a fair 
amount of labor (of course, you could always 



just pirate HTML from online forms you dig, 
too). Unfortunately, you will still need to work 
with your server administrator regarding the 
server setup and CGI scripts before setting the 
final formatting of your forms. 

Web.Designer masks its powerful capabilities 
behind a comfortable word processor-esque 
facade that provides as much WYSIWYG func- 
tionality as is possible (given the plethora of 
browsers that will be used to view any given 
site). With scads of toolbar buttons to perform 
a bevy of Web page creation/modifications, any- 
one can create attractive and functional sites 
utilizing most HTML 2.0 and 3.0 tags, plus most 
Netscape and Explorer extensions. 

Double-click a page element and a box 
springs up that allows you to edit most any of 
its properties. Common hyperlinks from text or 
graphics only require the entry of a URL path. 
More complicated image map links just need be 
drawn and defined. A special bonus feature is 
the automatic conversion of common BMP, TGA, 
and PCX files to the Web-friendly GIF and JPEG 
formats. But don’t delete your copy of Hijaak 
just yet; Web.DesigneTs auto conversion will 




Web.Designer presents a powerful set of web creation 
tools including one-click forms, buttons, and image 
map editors. Templates, such as this illegible example, 
are provided with Web.Designer and illustrate the intense 
evil this utilitarian program is capable of generating. 

not optimize the file’s palette, and savvy Web- 
sters know the secret to snappy sites is reduc- 
ing the download of big graphics by draining 
unneeded colors. 

Like many of Corel’s products, 

Web. Designet’s core is sound, but some of its 
stuffing is suspect. Buy it for the core and insert 
your own taste. 

— Brad Dosland 



PRICE: $119 
COMPANY: COREL 
PHONE: 800.772.6735 
URL: COREL.COM/CORELWEB 
/WEB DESIGNER/I NDEX.HTML 



boot verdict 



Total Mayhem 

Mutilation is never pretty 



Total Mayhem is a watered- 
down mutilation of Origin’s 
Crusader No Remorse, with 
a multiplayer mode thrown 
in to make up for some of 
the game’s ineptitude. 

The game opens with a 
visually stunning intro 



movie detailing your ob- 
jective. Unfortunately, these 
high-quality graphics are 
exclusive to the cut scenes. 
Gameplay boils down 
to having to kill some bad 
robots with your good 
mechs. After you complete 



a few levels (there are 20 
in all), you are awarded an 
additional mech to add to 
your squadron. Each 
squadron can have up to 
six mechs. 

Your crew can allegedly 
be assigned to different 
tasks. After working my way 
to a two-man squad, I was 
never able to separate 
these Siamese-twin warriors 
even after hours of trying. 

In fact, simply maneuvering 
your mechs is one of the 
biggest challenges. Assign 
them to an off-screen loca- 
tion and they’re likely to 
get stuck behind a bush or 
a corner of a building. 

If you’re patient enough 
to play on and lead these 




Total Mayhem’s cut scenes and environments at the base are 
graphically stunning, especially when compared to those in the 
actual gameplay screens. 




You can zoom 
in for a closer 
look at what 
you’re kilting, 
but it doesn’t 
add any 
excitement to 
the gaming. 



mechanical goof-bots around 
with a string of endless 
commands, you’ll discover 
that killing the bad bots is 
a comparatively easy task. 

Two features save Total 
Mayhem from being a com- 
plete waste: Its soundtrack 
and its multiplayer mode. 
The music is an immersive 
rave style that gets you in 
the mood for the action 
(that never materializes). 

The multiplayer mode (up 
to eight players in Win 95) 
is a must-have feature that 



was inexcusably left out of 
Crusader (and its coming 
sequel). Too bad Mayhem 
isn’t an add-on pack to 
Crusader, as a stand-alone, 
it just doesn’t stand out. 

- Doug Lombardi 



PRICE: S49.99 
COMPANY: DOMARK 
PHONE: 415.693.0297 
URL: WWW. DOM ARK.COM 



49 % 



Weak take-off on Crusader No 
Remorse 



boot verdict 



112 • boot AUG/SEPT 96 







ADVERTISING INDEX 





PAGE 


PRODUCT 

INFO 




COMPANY 


NUMBER 


NUMBER 


COMPANY 


20th Century Fox 






Creative Labs 


Home Entertainment 


6-7 


80 


Cyberdreams 


Access Software 


80-81 


81 


EarthLink 


ACT Soft 


126 


82 


Goosebump 


Blizzard 


20-21 


83 


Graphic Simulations 


boot 


64-65 


— 


Grolier, Inc. 


Borders, Inc. 


10-11 


84 


Inscape 


CD-ROM ACCESS 


125 


85 


Inscape 


CH Products 


67 


86 


Language Publications Inc. 


Computer Business Services 


125 


87 


Looking Glass Technologies 


Connectix 


4 


89 


Microforum 


Corel 


C4 


93 


Micron 


Corel 


30 


90 


Micropatent 


Corel 


40 


94 


Mindscape 


Corel 


74 


95 


NEC 


Corel 


85 


92 


Next Generation 


Corel 


91 


91 


Nu.millennia 



PRODUCT PRODUCT 



PAGE 

NUMBER 


INFO 

NUMBER 


COMPANY 


PAGE 

NUMBER 


INFO 

NUMBER 


9 


96 


Parsons Technology 


121 


110 


72 


97 


PC Gamer 


89 


111 


17 


98 


PC Gamer 


117 


- 


126 


99 


Philips Interactive Media 


77 


112 


C3 


100 


Philips Interactive Media 


99 


113 


45 


- 


Philips Interactive Media 


101 


114 


73 


101 


Pixel Perfect 


126 


115 


75 


102 


Polywell 


104 


124 


125 


103 


R&T Enterprises 


124 


116 


33 


104 


Smart Luck Software 


126 


117 


15 


105 


Splash Studios 


114 


118 


C2-1 


106 


Storm Primax 


28 


119 


126 


107 


Strategic Simulations, Inc. 


79 


120 


47 


108 


The Net 


86 


- 


24-25 


123 


Tiger Software 


122 


121 


69 


- 


Voyetra 


103 


122 


96-97 


109 









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TOW? 



W hat do you get when you combine the 
#1 children’s action hero and interactive \ideo 
excitement? Introducing Piper™, the world’s 
first VideoActive™ adventure! Based upon the 
classic tale of The Pied Piper , Jason David 
Frank (“Tommy” of The Mighty Morphin 
Power Rangers™) shirs as Piper in a race to 
find the Lost Cavern of Gold and save the town 
of Midas Valley from a horde of evil rats. 

It is up to the player to join the characters in 
educational challenges throughout this award- 
winning CD-ROM adventure. A magical story 
leads the player through problem-solving 
activities and action-gaming sequences on the 
way to earning a high score. Three levels of 
play assure age appropriate interaction for 
children ages 5 to 10. Movie quality 7 graphics 
and animations, six original songs and a cast 
of professional actors are brought to life in 
full-screen, live interactive video as never 
before seen in children’s software. The 
experts agree, Piper hikes children’s software 
to a whole new T level of interactive fun. Piper 
is one adventure that you won’t want to miss! 



“Piper... is a highly professional production 
with a freshness and entertainment value that 
will keep the kids coming back. Great music. 
Engaging plot. Excellent. Four stars.” 

- CD-ROM Today 



“The characters take on a life that we’ve 
never seen before in an edutainment title. 
Splash Studios has certainly upped the ante 
for other edutainment producers by creating 
a real interactive adventure that takes full 
advantage of current state-of-the-art 
multimedia technologies.” 

- The National Parenting Center 



“Piper... brings a new level of production 
values to children’s software.” 

- Family PC 

“Piper is thankfully different. Highly 
recommended.” 

- Billboard Magazine 

“Too often, children’s software relies on tried- 
and-true (and often dull) animation. If 
anything can get your children to ditch the TV 
for good, it’s (a) CD-ROM like this.” 

-Multimedia World 



• Hundreds of jokes and 
hidden animations 

• 8 challenges to exercise 
logic and problem solving 
skills 

• 6 original songs 

• 4 rat whacking action 
sequences 

• 4 captivating half hour 
episodes 

• 3 levels of difficulty 

• Fantastic 3D computer graphics throughout 

• Bonus soundtrack CD included 

• Satisfaction guaranteed* 

gg 

<01996 Splash Studios. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved. Distributed by Broderbund 



Product Information Number 118 



Available now on CD-ROM at your 
local software retailer or call 
1 -800-70-SPLASH ext 231 
Visit our Web Site at www.splash.com 

* 30- day money back guarantee 








REVIEWS 




[s/^J 



3D Studio 

Max 

Power for the pros 



First a word of warning: Amateurs need not apply. Beyond 
the $3,500 price tag, 3D Studio Max, the latest rev of 
Kinetix’s 3D modeling and animation package, has some 
stiff requirements. For starters, Max requires Windows NT 
and at least 32MB of RAM. However, given that Max was 
designed to compete with the likes of Alias’ Wavefront run- 
ning on Silicon Graphics’ workstations, these requirements 
are understandable. 

In many ways, Max is a better product than Wavefront. 
Installation is a snap (even though the expensive software 
uses hardware-based copy protection— a small encoded 
chip that plugs into the parallel port). While the menu sys- 
tem and options are daunting, you can navigate more easi- 
ly than in the typical Wavefront session. 

Object creation is totally nondestructive -every modifi- 
cation, from simple scaling to patch editing, is saved in 
each object’s Modifier Stack. For example, if an object 
needs a little more twisting, just go to the Modifier Stack, 
select the twist performed a half-dozen steps ago, and 
increase the angle or delete the twist entirely. 

The Materials Editor, where all the properties and maps 
are assembled, only lets you work on six materials at a 
time, necessitating a lot of shuffling. However, Max allows 
for a practically infinite series of multi/subobject materials. 
This lets you assign more than one material to a single 
object, layering each material on the object one surface 
at a time. 

Max?s particle system generator is where this program 
really shines: The system fully supports plug-ins. A design- 
er once told me the problem with 3D programs is that 
every single one does something better than the others; 
and if you’re serious about 3D, you need three or four 
packages to handle everything. This is where Marts 




The menu layout is somewhat complex and there are numerous 
submenus, but nothing you need is ever more than a screen away. 




This 3D Studio Max rendering of martian war machines used Rolf Berteig’s Combustion plug-in to cre- 
ate the fire and explosions and volume lighting to create the heat rays. This simple scene took less 
than a half-hour to model 




The Modifier Stack eliminates the worry of irreversibly chang- 
ing an object— if you don’t like the results, you can change or 
delete the modifier. 



plug-in concept is so elegant, 
because if there’s a feature 
you really need, (or, if one 
feature doesn’t execute well, 
such as the particle generator), 
find a plug-in that does the 
job better. Once installed, it 
will blend in seamlessly with 
the interface. 

Granted, many third party 
plug-ins cost up to $1,000 
(although some are appreciably 
cheaper; a few, including 
Combustion— a fire and smoke 
generator— are freebies that 
can be grabbed off the Kinetix 
Web site). If you’re a serious 
designer and can afford the 
package, then the ability to 
pick and choose which addition 
al features you need for your 
work is well worth the cost. 

(The concept is catching on 
in the high-end 3D world: 

The latest version of NewTek’s 
Lightwave 3D also supports 
plug-ins.) 

To describe all the features 
is simply beyond the scope of 
this review— 3D Studio Max is 
that powerful and flexible. 

(I could spend the next six 
months fooling with it and then 

write a book.) If you need a relatively inexpensive top-flight 
3D package ($10,000 to $15,000 for an NT system with 
Max compared with $25,000 to $50,000 for a low-end SG 
workstation), 3D Studio Max does everything you want, 
and with plug-ins, then some. 

— Jeff Lundrigan 




The Materials Editor only handles six materials at a time, but 
it’s relatively easy to use and extremely flexible. 



PRICE: $3,495 
COMPANY: KINETIX 
PHONE: 415.507.5000 
URL: WWW.KTX.COM 

« mm 



boot verdict: 



High-end 3D for those without a 
SG workstation 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 



115 





REVIEWS 




ft/aA 



Color QuickCam 



Plug, aim, and shoot 



The Connectix Color 
QuickCam is smaller and 
lighter than a baseball and 
looks as slick as the grown- 
up toys found at the 
Sharper Image. But the 
Color QuickCam is more 
than a gadget: It’s a video 
and still camera and 




The Color QuickCam easily 
focuses on objects as close as 
one inch or as far as across the 
room. 



digitizer wrapped up in an 
affordable little ball. 

Pull the QuickCam out of 
the box, and you’ll be ready 
to shoot photos and stream 
video in less than 10 min- 
utes. The camera’s small 
size belies its power. This 
tiny package offers built-in 
features such as a propri- 
etary VIDEC video compres- 
sion algorithm, f/16 aper- 
ture, 5.7mm lens with 48- 
degree view and electronic 
zoom, auto brightness and 
hue settings, controls for 
saturation, white and black 
balance, red and blue lev- 
els, plus QuickPICT and 
QuickMovie software. 

Connectix has made 
some other improvements 
on their original grayscale 




Use the Color QuickCam for 
video conferencing via the 
Internet, or use the AutoCapture 
feature to grab new photos at 
regular intervals to update a 
Web site. 

QuickCam. The camera has 
impressive 24-bit color 
depth and 640x480 resolu- 
tion for still photography 
and a focus ring on the 
front of the camera (which 
can zoom in on objects as 
close as one inch from the 
lens or accurately focus on 
those across the room). 
Taking a photo is easy: 




The Color QuickCam captures 24-bit color photos and video images 
up to an impressive 24fps with its built-in video compression 
algorithm. 



Click QuickPICT s Take 
Picture button. The digital 
images are suprisingly crisp, 
and can be saved as PICT, 
jPEG, or TIFF. 

Capturing video with the 
QuickCam doesn’t even 
compare with hassling with 
a standard video camera, 
cables, and motion-capture 
boards (or even Play’s simi- 
larly priced Snappy). Click 
on the record button to 
capture in 24fps at 160x120 
resolution, or adjust the 
settings to grab in time- 
lapse intervals. The some- 



times lossy video won’t 
help you become the next 
Spielberg, but you can use 
the camera for video confer- 
encing via the Internet 
using Connectix’s 
VideoPhone software ($59) 
or an app like CU-SeeMe. 

- Angela LoSasso 

COMPANY: CONNECTIX 
PRICE: $229 (ESTIMATED) 
PHONE : 800.950.5880 
URL: WWW.CONNECTIX 



86 % 



Designed and priced right 



.COM 

hoot verdict: 



HOW TO CONTACT US 



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Marketplace North America 



116 - boot AUG/SEPT 96 








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PRODUCT 
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
THEY TELL US, WE 
PASS IT ALONG 



Performance without the premium 
The Venturis FX family of Pentium- 
based desktop systems from DEC caters 
from those in need of an entry-level PC 
to the high-end power user who demands 
Windows NT on their desktop. Venturis 
FX models FX5100 to 5166 are shipping 
now' and range in price from SI, 679 to 
$2,789 based on configuration. Digital 
Equipment Corp.: 800.344.4825; 
www.pc.digital.com 

Scan it 

Panasonic has added an entry-level unit 
to its production-scanner line. The KV- 
SS25, priced at $4,599, has a maximum 
scanning rate of 20 pages per minute, 
processes a variety' of paper sizes and 
weights, has reverse gravity feed, one- 
sided and two-sided scanning modes, 
operator-selectable resolution from 150dpi 
to 300dpi, and a space-saving, mini-tower 
design. Panasonic Computer Peripheral 
Co.: 800.742.8086; www.panasonic.com 

Mystique drops in price 

Matrox has announced a price cut for its 
Mystique 3D graphics accelerator even 
before the card has shipped. Mystique 
will ship at an estimated street price of 
$199 for the 2MB version, and $279 for 
the 4MB version (starting in August), 
and will be bundled with a selection of 
software and shareware games including 
MechWarrior 2 and Scorched Planet 
Matrox Graphics Inc: 800.361J408; 
www.matrox.com/mga 

Video and sound on one card 

Now you can buy an MPEG-1 playback 
card that combines great video quality 
with built-in sound capabilities and 
optional output to NTSC monitors. The 
Realmagic Ultra offers support for 24-bit 
color depth and has built-in Windows 
PCM stereo audio playback that elimi- 
nates the need for a separate sound card. 
The standard board retails for $399; 

$489 with the TV tuner option. Sigma 
Designs: 800.845.8086; www.sigma.com 

Getting touchy 

Three new touchscreen monitors have 
been announced by Mitsubishi 
Electronics. The PredsePoint line 
includes the 5800 (15-inch), 8705 (17- 
inch), and 8905 (20-inch). Offering a 
touch contact requirement of only 3ms 
and high accuracy (± 1 percent), they are 




among the 
most sensitive 
and responsive 
monitors in 
the industry. 
Ranging in 
price from about $1,500 for the Precise- 
Point 5800, to $2,000 for the 8705, and 
$3,200 for the 8905, all have a 135MHz 
bandwidth allowing them 
to support a typical non- 
interlaced resolution of 
1280x1024 at a 75Hz 
refresh rate. Also from 
Mitsubishi is the 
Diamond Scan 15VX 13.8-inch diagonal 
viewable image color monitor. For 
around $450, the 15VX features 0.28mm 
dot pitch with 1280x1024 at a 60Hz 
refresh rate. Mitsubishi Electronics: 
800.843.2515; www.mela-itg.com 

Monitors for the pros 

ViewSonic has added two new monitors 
to its high-end Professional Series: the 
P815 and P810. Both monitors have a 21- 
inch (20-inch viewable) screen and offer 
0.25mm dot 
pitch. The P815 
offers a 
250MHz video 
input band- 
width and dis- 
plays resolu- 
tions of 

1800x1440 at a 76Hz refresh rate, and 
1600x1,200 at a 911-lz refresh rate. While 
the P810 has resolutions of 1600x1200 at 
a 76Hz refresh rate, and 1280x1024 at an 
88 Hz refresh rate. The P815 is priced at 
S2,195; the P810 at $1,845. ViewSonic 
800.888.8583; www.viewsonic.com 

All that jazz 

A new line of multimedia speakers, the 
Jazz 3D Series, offers a three-position 3D 
switch that controls the intensity levels 
of the 3D sound. There are three sound 
control settings— Music, Game, and 
Theater — enabling you to customize your 
3D sound, plus a host of other features. 

Three models 
will be avail- 
able: the 10- 
watt JS-100 for 
$74.95, the 20- 
watt JS-200 for 
$99.95, and 
the 40- watt JS- 
300 for S124.95. The 3D Series will also 
be available as a three-piece system which 
includes the JS-900 subwoofer for added 
bass response. 

Jazz Inc.: 818.336.2689 

Speed freaks 

It's unlikely you’ll ever set one up on 
your desktop at home, but you have to 
admire the speed of the new entry-level 
and midrange AlphaStation 255 and 500 
workstations from DEC. They're fast, 
damn fast. Prices start at $7,399 for the 
255 series, and $15,863 for the 500. 
AlphaStations support Digital’s 64-bit 
operating systems— Digital UNIX and 
OpenVMS— and Windows NT. The 500 
workstation includes 2MB of fast L3 
cache, 256-bit memory bus, up to 8GB of 
internal storage in five drive bays, four 
PCI slots, support for dual-fast and wide 
SCSI-2 channels, Ethernet and Fast 
Ethernet, and up to 512MB of RAM. 




Enough said. Digital Equipment Corp.: 
800.344.4825; www.pc.digital.com 

Real 8x performance 
The CSD-880E 8x CD-ROM drive from 
Sony claims to overcome the problems 
inherent with high-speed performance. 
Featuring an average access time of 
160ms and a data transfer rate of 
1.2MB/sec that enables support for 
MPEG-2 video, the package comes bun- 
dled with Sony Navigator software. The 
CSD-880E is in stores now and retails for 
$189.99. Sony Electronics: 800.352.7669; 
www.seLsony.com/SEL/ccpg 

Practical storage 

Sony Electronics’ newest generation of 
Spressa CD-R drives, the Spressa 940 
internal drive, and 9411 external, incorpo- 
rate Sony's CD-R file system (CDRFS) 
technology, enabling consumers to use 
the drives on their desktop as easily as a 
hard disk or floppy drive. The result: The 
Sprcssa’s 
are practi- 
cal sec- 
ondary 
storage 
products 
that allow 

you to delete Files as you w-ould on a hard 
or floppy disk. They incorporate a SCSI-2 
interface and their 2x recording speed 
enables them to record a 650MB disc in 
as little as 45 minutes. Spressa 940 and 
9411 are available now for $899.95 and 
$1,059.99 respectively. 

Sony Electronics: 800.352.7669; 
www.seLsony.com/SEL /ccpg 

Now that’s smart 

4D Web Smart Server is a complete tool 
kit for Internet and intranet Web develop- 
ment, providing solutions for creating 
dynamic Web pages; database publishing; 
and total integration of Web, FTP, e-mail, 
and real-time database access into unified 
systems. The SmartServer contains com- 
ponents from ACI and several of its lead- 
ing developers and is shipping for 
Windows now at $1,195. ACI USA Inc.: 
800.881.3466; www.ad-4D.com 

See the light and get in sync 

New from Texas Instruments are the 
6000 and 6000Si series of personal 
organizers. All organizers offer the 
Indiglo night-light enabling you to use 
the organizer in dark environments, and 
have been designed to use the optional 
PS-6155 Connectivity Kit ($75) that allows 
you to connect to your PC for easy data 
transfer. The 6000 series indudes the 
PS-6360i for $79.99, and the PS-6565i, 
which offers more memory and indudes 
the PC Con- 
nectivity Kit, 
for $159. The 
Si line of orga- 
nizers (the PS- 
6760Si, PS- 
6860Si, and 
PS-6960Si) 
offer Data Synchronization that provides 
one-touch updating of information 
between the organizer and your PC, 
more memory, larger display area, and 
are available in three memory configura- 
tions (64KB, 128KB, and 256KB respec- 
tively). The Si line is priced at $110, $149, 
and $195 respectively. There’s also a PS- 
6965Si bundle for $239 that indudes the 





Connectivity Kit. Texas Instruments: 
800.842.2737; www.ti.com 

Picky, picky, picky 

A new line of 120MHz and 133MHz 
Pentium multimedia notebook PCs from 
Kiwi Computer are now available. The 
line is known as OpenNote because of its 
open system 
architecture, 
which allows for 
a true bare- 
bones system 
that can be cus- 
tom configured. 
Kiwi allows you 
to select the CPU, memory, and hard 
drive of your choice, and offers a number 
of expansion options. There are six mod- 
els in the 680 series with base prices 
ranging from $1,599 to $2,299. Kiwi 
Computer: 408.492.9188; 
www.ldwicom.com 

Sharp notebooks 

Sharp is shipping a new Pentium note- 
book. Priced at under $6,000, the PC- 
9080 weighs in at 7.3 pounds and fea- 
tures a 12.1-inch screen, which offers 
greater brightness and 38 percent less 
power consumption than the previous 
generation of notebooks; a 133MHz 
Pentium, 16MB of RAM, a 1.3GB hard 
drive, a 6x CD-ROM drive, and a built-in 
28.8Kbps fax/modem. 

Sharp Electronics Corp.: 800.237.4277; 
www.sharp-usa.com 

Get smart 

The SmartNote 600 is the latest addition 
to the line of notebook computers from 
New World Technologies. Based on 
Intel's Pentium 133MHz, the SmartNote 
comes standard with an 11.3-inch active 
matrix color screen, 28.8 fax/modem, 4x 
CD-ROM drive, NTSC/PAL output, 

MPEG utility, and Microsoft Office Pro 
Software. Prices start at $4,995 for the 
16MB notebook. New World 
Technologies Inc: 800.443.8885 

So simple 

Valis infoShip for Windows, which lets 
desktop publishers add multimedia ele- 
ments to portable documents created 
with DTP software such as QuarkXpress, 
PageMaker, and FrameMaker, is now 
available for $589. The drag-and-drop 
interface lets you add audio, video, graph- 
ics, animation, and even executable pro- 
grams — without programming or script- 
ing— then bind your electronic publica- 
tion for distribution onto CD-ROM, flop- 
py, or via the Internet. Simple. 

The Valis Group: 800.825.4704; 
www.valisgroup.com 

Mega projection 

If your next big contract is riding on your 
presentation, or you feel the need to pro- 
ject your insignia Batman-style on the 
buildings of your town, you’ll be interest- 
ed in the LVP-G1A — a data video projec- 
tor with a three panel LC polymer com- 
posite active matrix for true representa- 
tion of 16.7 million colors, the ability to 
accept RGB, NTSC, PAL, and SECAM 
signals for a 640x480 VGA display, and 
project screen sizes from 20 inches to 
300 inches. It has multiscanning capabili- 
ty, is portable, and costs $7,995 (estimat- 
ed street price). Mitsubishi Electronics: 
800.843.2515; www.mela-itg.cora 




118 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 




See me, hear me 
Specom's Internet VideoPhone, a 
Windows software program, allows you to 
video conference over the Internet. 
VideoPhone maintains the direct dial 
function, and has the added ability to 
send high-res images over the Net for the 
cost of a local call, allowing you to see the 
other part)’ in real-time live video. The 
VideoPhone is available now for S69.50. 
Specom Technologies: 408.982.1880; 
www.specom.com 

Meet face-to-face with i2i 

The i2i PC from 1PC Peripherals includes 
a 100MHz PC with a built-in video con- 
ferencing system, which includes a full- 
motion video capture card with ISDN 
interface, telephone handset, Win2Win 
video conferencing software, and a color 
digital camera for S4.000. IPC 
Peripherals Inc.: 510.354.0800; 
www.ipcp.us.com 

From humble fax to... 

Now you can transform your humble fax 
machine into a multifunction device, 
operating as a printer, scanner, and copi- 
er, while never relinquishing its ability to 
send and receive faxes. A new add-in PC 
card from Castelle that's Win 95 Plug- 
andffl-Play ready is the key. The Personal 
FaxPress 100 has a list price of S249 and 
requires an ISA slot. Castelle: 
408.496.0474; www.castelle.com 

Snap happy for less 
The Kodak Digital Science DC20 Camera 
is the first in a series of affordable point- 
and-shoot digital cameras targeted at the 
home computer user. The DC40 Camera 
and DC50 Zoom Camera are already- 

used in a variety 
of business and 
online applica- 
tions, but the 
DC20 is the 
first snappy tool 
for the home 
user with an affordable price tag of less 
than S350. The DC20 is light and com- 
pact, has 1MB of memory' that stores 
either eight or 16 pictures (depending on 
the resolution selected) in full 24-bit 
color, and comes bundled with a variety 
of software, including: Picture Works 
Technology’s Photoenhancer Special Fun 
Edition, Kai’s Power Goo from 
MetaTools, and Slides & Sound Software 
from InMedia Presentations. Eastman 
Kodak: 800.235.6325; www.kodak.com 

Ultimate Control 

The Ultimate PC Controller from Mad 
Catz offers ergonomic design, a floating 
D-pad for quick response, four action but- 
tons, and four independent turbo shoul- 
der buttons. Available now for $24.95. 
Mad Catz: 800.659.2287; 
www.madcatz.com 
The thrust of the matter... 
Thrustmaster has announced a number 
of new game controllers: The $69.95 
Phazer Pad has two analog triggers, a 
throttle wheel, an eight- way D-Pad, and is 
completely user pro- 
grammable; The 
Grand Prix 1 driving 
wheel (a $99.95 ver- 
sion of the T2 wheel 
and pedals) clamps 
to your desk and 



offers quick 
access accelera- 
tion, braking, 
and shifting 
control on the 
steering wheel; 
The Rudder 
Control System 
Pro works with 
all simulators 
supporting 
external rudder 
pedals and is priced at $149.95. 
Thrustmaster. 503.639.3200; www.thrust- 
master.com 

May the force be with you 

A new force- feedback joystick from CH 
Products will ship in September. Priced 
at S149, the Force F/X will offer a variety 
of motions including jolt, vibration buf- 
feting, and vector force (each function 

controlling certain 
movements of the 
stick and reacting 
through the han- 
dle). This fall, the 
company will also 
be shipping the F- 
16 Fighterstick. which offers 24 program- 
mable button functions (price TBA). CH 
Products is also designing a wireless joy- 
stick for release in 1997, which will have 
14-button function and use radio frequen- 
cy to provide more than 70 feet of range 
between the stick and the screen. 

CH Products: 800.624.5804; 
www.chproducts.com 

Surf the 3D wave 

VR Surfer from VRex is wireless 3D 
stereo eyewear that works with either 
your TV or 
computer. The 
VR Surfer kit 
includes the 3D 
LCD eyewear, 
transmitter 
(with a range of 
up to 12 feet), 3D videotape, and CD-ROM 
software for $69. VRex: 800.877.8733; 
www.vrex.com 

The OS that wouldn’t die 

Even though almost no one uses it, IBM 
is updating its OS/2 operating system. 
IBM has announced that the next version 
of OS/2 Warp, code-named Merlin, will 
integrate Sun Microsystem's Java into the 
operating system, allowing it to natively 
run Java apps and Internet applets inde- 
pendent of a Web browser. Merlin, sched- 
uled to ship in the second half of ’96, will 
come with a built-in Java Developer's Kit 
plus the run-time code necessary to run a 
Java application. IBM: 800.426.3333; 
www.ibm.com 

Corporate voodoo 

Ever feel the need to stick it to your boss? 
Well, now you can for less than $20 with 
Splashdown 
Productions’ 
Animated Voodoo 
Doll. Mixing 3D 
technology with 2D 
cel animation, 
Voodoo Doll is a 
stress buster with an 
edge that will be in stores in September. 
Splashdown Productions: 818.973.4855; 
www.missionc.com 









Let your e-mail speak forth 
Midisoft Sound Bar software allow r s you 
to integrate all PC sound capabilities into 
one location, so you can easily control 
sound on your PC. Sound Bar’s voice 
recording capabilities let you replace text 
with voice for sending e-mail and other 
business messages for only S19.95. The 
software comes bundled with a micro- 
phone that plugs into your PC's sound 
card for recording messages. 

Midisoft Corp.: 800.776.6434; 
wwwjnidisoft.com 



Animated e-mail 

(g)loha! is an animated e-mail program 
that produces tiny (due to the program’s 
compression 
engine) self-play- 
ing files that 
embed them- 
selves in stan- 
dard e-mail messages. @loha! contains 
ready-made greetings plus do-it-yourself 
wizards that let you create your own. 
Available in September for $49.95. 

Media Synergy: 800 793.6320; 
www.mediasyn.com 






The Heroes are back 
The sequel. Heroes of Might and Magic 
II: The Succession, has been announced. 
Lord Ironfist has died and his sons’ strug- 
gle for power has resulted in civil war. 
Heroes will be in stores in October for 
>. Also scheduled for release from 
New World 
Computing are 
Viper 

Operation Red 
Sector, a futur- 
istic flight/com- 
bat sim, and 
Wages of War, a strategy game set in the 
year 2001 in a vicious corporate w'orld 
where you are a young entrepreneur try- 
ing to succeed. Viper and Wages will be 
available in September for $59.95 and 
$49.95 respectively. New World 
Computing: 800.325.8898; www.nwcom- 
puting.com 
MMX gaming 

Beware the cancerous red fungus of 
POD, the new sci-fi racing game from 
Ubi Soft Entertainment, which is one of 
the first 
games devel- 
oped for 
Intel’s new 
MMX tech- 
nology. 
Escape 
before the 

fungus engulfs everything and the planet 
explodes. Available at Christmas for sys- 
tems equipped with MMX processors and 
for conventional Pentiums in April '97. 
Ubi Soft Entertainment: 800.824.7638; 
www.ubisoft.com 



Round the track... again 

Sierra is at the sequel game again, this 
time to milk mileage from its NASCAR 
licence. NASCAR Racing 2 lets you race 
on 16 tracks 
with better 
graphics, an 
increased 
use of sound 
effects, more 
multiplayer 
support 




(including a network feature that allows 
up to eight players to race against each 
other over a LAN), and a more intuitive 
interface than its popular predecessor. 
Available for an estimated street price of 
$59.95 this fall. Sierra has also 
announced an Internet version of 
NASCAR. Sierra: 800.757.7707; 
www.sierra.com 

Avoid HTML 

Peak Technologies has built a Web 
authoring tool entirely in Java, thus elimi- 
nating the need for non-technical users to 
have to grapple with HTML Web Page 
Builder will ship in August and will cost 
$49.95. Peak Technologies Inc.: 
800.453.5322; www.peak-media.com 

Enter the Web suite 
Web Office provides you with all the tools 
you need for professional Web develop- 
ment in a full-featured, 
integrated suite of easy- 
to-use, 32-bit Web 
authoring and publish- 
ing tools, including: 

Web Doctor, HTML 
Studio Tool Kit, and Internet Assistant 
for Microsoft Word for Windows. Priced 
at S499 and available now. Blue Sky 
Software: 800.571.9764; www.blue- 
sky.com 

Read all about it 

Guidance for the insecure and those 
in need of Java is being provided by 
Osbome/McGraw-Hill. For Web mavens, 
there is JavaScript Essentials: Creating 
Interactive Web Applications a book/CD- 
ROM bundle that will get you started with 
an overview of JavaScript and Java; price 
is $34.95. If you need guidance about 
how to stay a step ahead of those slippery 
hackers, The Windows NT Security 
Handbook can help. At $29.95, it will 
guide you through crucial security issues 
and provide an overview of how to craft 
defensive strategies. Osbome/McGraw- 
Hill: 800.722.4726; www.osbome.com 

Kick Ass Web spinning 

Several book/CD-ROM bundles are being 
released for Web developers in a Kick Ass 
series from Coriolis: Web Developer's 
Guide to Sound and Music covers the 
hardware and software tools you’ll need, 
licensing and copy- 
right issues, and pro- 
vides instructions for 
audio capture: Web 
Developer’s Guide to 
JavaScript & VB Script 
goes beyond Web pub- 
lishing to true Web 
development and com- 
pares JavaScript with 
popular programming 
languages, teaches you 
the basics for incorpo- 
rating VB Script into 
HTML, and covers site 
security issues; Web 
Publisher’s Guide to Multimedia & Video 
provides an in-depth look at new Web 
technologies, including RealAudio, 
ShockWave, MBone, VRML, and Java, 
and has step-by-step instructions to follow 
so you can make the most of these tech- 
nologies. The books are in stores now at a 
cost of S39.99 each. The Coriolis Group: 
800.410.0192; www.coriolis.com 





boot AUG/SEPT 96 



110 











GAME THEORY 

◄ 29 narration, and sound, in evoking the 
atmosphere and spirit of the stories of Edgar 
Allan Poe. That in its best incarnation, this 
kind of title (also built with Director ) is still 
not a real game is telling evidence of how lit- 
tle can be done with this formula. 

On the other hand, a super-charged, 
updated version of the more traditional 
adventure game can still pack one helluva 
wallop. Just check out Full Throttle. This is an 
ambitious game with terrific animation and 
art, good voice acting, and a full-blooded 
musical score. What's more, it's a game. 
There’s something more to do than just twid- 
dle. There are interesting characters to inter- 
act with, action sequences, and puzzles. 

Since the puzzles of Full Throttle arise out of 
the locations, characters, and story, they have 
more substance. Rather than flipping switch- 
es, you're using objects or finding different 
ways to approach a given situation. The story 
matters, and so do the people. In twiddle 
games, story is inevitably thin and characters 



Interaction is limited tol 
clicking in the proper^H 
sequence. Period... || ’■ * 
These are computerized 
Rubik’s Cubes, and they are 
stultifyingly boring... 



nonexistent. They almost never make you 
laugh out loud (as least not intentionally), as 
Sam and Max or Full Throttle do, or involve 
you in any meaningful way in their world. 
They are sterile, dry, and lifeless worlds, and 
we are not led to care. Even the cartoon world 
of a Full Throttle is more ‘Teal” and involving 
than the barren emptiness of a Myst. Full 
Throttle uses new sound and graphics tech- 
nology to achieve its goals. Twiddle games 
are instead used by the technology: They exist 
only to show how slick games can be made. 

But that won’t stop people from trying. 
The Millers are hard at work on Myst II, 
which will probably be as big a hit as the 
first. Meanwhile, the Frankenstein’s monster 
they helped create is rampaging across the 
countryside, despoiling the field of computer 
gaming and twiddling all the way. 0 



REVIEWS: HITACHI 

◄ 95 excellent hard disk and CD-ROM drive 
performance, but had lackluster graphics speed 
in Windows. Ziff Davis’ WinBench 96 reported a 
Disk WinMark of 623KB/sec and a CD-ROM 
WinMark of 399KB/sec. The Cirrus Logic 7543 
PCI video chipset, however, earned a Graphics 
WinMark of just 6.37 million pixels per second 
at 800x600 resolution with 256 colors. 

Graphics performance in DOS, on the other 
hand, was surprisingly fast. Running Descent II, 
the M-120T delivered frame rates of43fps at 
320x200 resolu- 
tion, a respect- 
able (for a note- 
book) 16fps at 
640x480, and 
8fps at 640x480. 
Its performance 
with Duke Nukem 
3D was slightly 
slower, putting 
out 35fps at 
320x200, llfps at 
640x480, and 
7fps at 800x600. 

The Hitachi’s on-board sound is a disap- 
pointment. Audio samples not only sound 
thin— as notebook DACs are wont to do— but 
they crackle with noise and hiss. In another 
compromise to accommodate the sliding hinge 
on the display, the speakers are mounted flat 
on the deck behind it. It’s hard enough to get 
good sound out of a notebook without building 
an echo chamber around them. The speakers 
don’t put out much volume, either. 

When it comes to keyboards, everyone has 
their own preference. I prefer a firm keyboard 
that offers plenty of tactile feedback. I love the 
keyboard on the M-120T; you might hate it. I 
found it to be logically laid out, with oversized 
backspace, tab, and shift keys. A 10-key numer- 
ic keypad is embedded. Cursor control keys are 
arranged in an inverse T and isolated, so they 
can’t be mistaken for anything else. Hitachi had 
to omit the Windows 95 Start and Menu keys 
to accommodate this arrangment, but those 
extra keys drive me nuts anyway. A trackpoint 
cursor-control stick is mounted in the middle of 
the keyboard. 

To its credit, Hitachi didn’t take the easy 
way out by producing a copycat product. As far 
as the M-120T is concerned, however, I’ll wait 
for a few refinements before recommending this 
player for the majors. 

— Michael Brown 



Double Take N 

ft on/ powerfu/ can a 
system be if the power 
cuts out abrupt/ y? 
tts / was ■finishing 
a doc , a trif/ series 
of beeps sounded , 
fo//owed seconds 
/ater by a system 
shutdown. A/o chance 
to sare my worM. 
Where' s the two 
minute warning 
when you need it? 

- Brad Dosland y 



COMPANY: HITACHI PC CORP. 
PRICE: $5,299 
PHONE: 800.555.6820 
URL: WWW.HITACHIPC.COM 



80 % 



With a few refinements, this 
machine could be a player 



bori verdict 



JEAN-LOUIS GASSEE 

it. One for 
the appli- 
ances in the 
living room, 
so to speak. 
One for the 
devices in 
the closet, 
because if 
you’re a real 
geek you 
have some 
hardware in 
the closet. And one to get traffic from your 
remote because you want to shut up your 
mother-in-law on the computer answering 
machine. Seriously, you need to be able to 
run the computer from the clicker. It 
sounds like it's a bit much. But when 
you’re a real geek, it’s never enough, 
boot: Will the BeBox’s OS update recently 
posted on the Web be the last before the 
hardware is shipped? 

Gass£e: No, no. Some bug fixes will occur. 
There will be another release in late sum- 
mer. It’s going to be a lot of functional 
improvements from all over the map, from 
graphics, the game kit, scripting. There’s a 
long list. We are still in the phase of 
putting the foundation on the frame of the 
house. Then visible work seems to happen 
at a rapid rate. Some day we will reach a 
point where things will slow down, 
boot You have worked in both the 
European and American computer indus- 
tries. Your knowledge of global markets 
must give you an edge to understanding 
and exploiting opportunities other 
companies might miss. Can you give any 
examples? 

Gassee: In Northern Europe, for instance, 
there is a very strong Internet academic 
computing tradition. Also Japan. For some 
reason, I have a number of connections in 
Japan, where they also have a very fine aca- 
demic computing tradition. The students 
and young executives are, believe it or not, 
very pro- America. They also happen to be 
pro-French, so it doesn’t hurt to be both in 
my case. [The Japanese] like products that 
come from the U.S. because they exhibit a 
spirit of creativity and independence, 
which is a little bit stifled by the structures 
of corporate life in Japan. So we have a 
good entree into Japan. Now we need to 
deserve it by behaving in ways that are 
consistent with the expectations of 
Japanese customers, who are very careful 
in this market. 0 




120 - boot AUG/SEPT 96 





Still easy- 
Still fun 



but more powerful, 
but more flexible. 



More valuable than ever — still 



Windows 95-compatible. 
Now available on Macintosh 
and CD-ROM, too! 



It’s ready, America. ! We’ve updated and enhanced your favorite FREE software 
program for creating cards, posters and banners — -from top to bottom. Welcome 
to all-NEW Greetings 2. 0! It’s still easy, still fun — and still FREE! 




Then, add text and print— it's simple! 



First, pick your favorite format and graphics. 



NEW! More than 60 eye-catching 
graphics! 

NEW! Place as many graphics as you 
wish on each page! 

NEW! Stretch, shrink, copy graphics 
anywhere in your layout! 

NEW! Position and size objects with 
Zoom, Ruler, Guideline and 
other user-defined tools! 

NEW! Print Preview lets you see your 
documents just as they'll print! 

AND MORE! 



J oin the hundreds of thousands of 

satisfied customers who save money — 
and have fun — creating their cards, 
posters and banners the fast, easy, FREE 
way — with Greetings 2.0! 

Through this special offer, you can have 
Greetings 2.0 — the very latest version of 
this popular program — not for $39, not 
for $ 29 — but FREE! (You pay just $8.95 
shipping and handling.) 

The very latest in 
software — free! 

Greetings 2.0 is NOT a limited, 
demonstration program that requires you 
to pay more to 
get the real thing. 

No, Greetings 2.0 
is a complete, 
high-performance 
program. You’ll 
be proud to add 
it to your soft- 
ware collection! 

Its so easy to 
use. Just select a 
layout, insert any 
of the more than 60 included graphic 
images, customize your text, and print! 
That’s all it takes to create unique, personal 
holiday greeting cards, for sale posters, 
party banners and so much more. 

Your options are virtually limitless! 




Why is Greetings 2.0 free? 

It’s simple. We want you to become 
one of Parsons Technology’s more than 
3 million loyal, satisfied customers. And 
giving you free software is one of the best 
ways we know. 

You’ll love Greetings 2.0, so we’re sure 
you’ll turn to many other of our more than 
70 other software titles for affordable, high- 
performance solutions in the future! 



Hurry— this offer is limited 
to the first 50,000 orders! 



For your FREE copy of 
Greetings 2.0, call 

1 - 800 - 243-6169 

Operators are standing by 24 hours a day, 
7 days a week. Or fax the attached 
order form to 1-319-395-7449 or 
mail it to the address below. 

Or order online: 
(http://www.parsonstech. com) 
America Online ®: (keyword PARSONS) 
CompuServe 3 : (GO PA). 



BfYes! Send me Greetings 2.0 FREE*! 

* Please add $8.95 for shipping and handling ($11.95 for Canadian orders 
and $20.95 for all other orders outside North America). No purchase orders, please. 
Includes detailed User’s Guide and expert technical support. 



Name 

Address 

City State Zip 

Daytime Phone ( ) 

Evening Phone ( ) 

Disk Size: □ 3.5' □ 5.25' □ CD-ROM ( We ship HD 3.5' disks if unmarked.) 

Disk Format: □ Windows 3.1 □ Windows 95 □ Macintosh □ Power Macintosh 
Payment Method: J Check or Money Order enclosed QVisa □ MasterCard 
□ Discover □ American Express 




SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Greetings 2.0 for Windows requires an IBM 3 or compatible PC, 4MB RAM, Microsoft* Windows 3.1, Windows NT 3.5 or later, or Windows 95, and 6MB hard drive space. 
Mouse required. Greetings 2.0 for Macintosh requires System 7.0 or better, 4MB RAM (8MB recommended), an 11 -inch monitor or larger (Powerbook monitor ok) and 5MB hard drive space. All CD- 
ROM versions requires a CD-ROM drive. Shipping and handling are non-refundable. Copyright © 1996 Parsons Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Greetings is a trademark of Parsons Technology, Inc. 

Product Information Number 110 












Tiger SoFfware, HarcIu/are 



5x86 Cyrix Upgrade Kits! 



Your Choice IOOMHzor 1 20MHz 

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This Bund le Includ es 

• 100 ok 120MH/ Cyrix 5x86 Processor 

• OuAd-SpEEd CD-ROM Drue 

• 5.5ri.\d» Floppy DiskcnE DRivE 

• Sousd BUsTER'COMpAiiblE Sou.xd CARd 








-f 





• 14.4KB InifrnaI Faxmodem 



Cyrix 



• WiNdows 95 KeyboARd 



/tom/ Description 



Price Each 



2-BunoN Mouse 


A1 13-8101 5x86-100 Kit 


. . . $299.99 


Stereo SpeaIcers 


A1 13-8120 5x86-120 Kit 

A1 13-81 11 5x86-100 


. . . $349.99 


Mid Tower Case 


Motherboard Only. . . 


. . . $229.99 


200'Watt Power Supply 


A1 13-8121 5x86-120 




Motherboard Only. . . 


. . . S279.99 



□ SPECIAL BUNDLE! 



S70 CAsk BAck & S50 In FREE Siuff 




Here’s how it works: If you buy a new Zip 
Drive, you’ll receive a $50 Rebate Coupon 
(making your final cost of the drive just 
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ordered on the same ticket.) That’s $70 in 
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Iomega IE 1 IIGE 3 

Item/ Description Price Each 

121-1212 Zip Drive PC Parallel $149.99* 

121-1210 Zip Drive 100MB SCSI MAC $149.99*t 

121-1214 Zip Zoom PC SCSI Adapter 

for SCSI Zip Drive $49.99 

# After $50 rebate! 1 PC's require Zip Zoom. 

121-1216 One (1)100 MB Zip Disk .. $19.99 
121-1242 Three (3) 100 MB Zip Disks .$49.99 
121-1220 Ten (10) 100 MB Zip Disks $149.99 
ING-306927 Zip Disk Single-Pak MAC .S19.99 
I NG -306932 Zip Disk 3-Pak MAC $49.99 




SyQuest EZFIyer 23DMB 



NEW RELEASE! 

All New Industry Premiere 

The EZFIyer™ 230 from Syquest solves the 
storage problems of today. It combines the 
flexibility of a data cartridge 3 l h" square 
with the blazing speed of hard drive technol- 
ogy. The EZFIyer™ 230 is one of the most 
solidly built, easy-to-use, small and light- 
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proven, award-winning technology by the 
world’s leading manufacturer. Users will find 
it a truly unique and powerful asset for years 
to come. 

Syquest EaEE3 

Item / Description Price Each 

S1 10-1018 EZFIyer 230MB Parallel. . $299.99 
S1 10-1016 EZFIyer 230MB Cartridge. . $29.99 




EZFIyer™ Uses The Fastest 
Data Storage Technology 



13.5 ms 

High-Perfurrvjnce Foppics Zflms 

Magneto-Optical Drives 35 ms 

l i i i i 

0 10 20 30 40 

Average Seek Time In Mitiseconds (ms) 



Powerful Laser Pointers 




The greatest single leap in presentation tech- 
nology — the laser pointer — is now available 
at an affordable price! This super compact 
laser beam pointer has a sleek, pen style, 
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It’s brilliant! Presentations will 
never be boring as you guide your 
audience’s attention — they can’t 
help but follow! 300-yard range — 
runs on just two AAA batteries. 

Amtel 



Item i 



Description 



Price Each 

A127-1000 Laser Pointer $29.99 

A127-1002 Metal Keychain 

Laser Pointer $49.99 



hcRtdiblt 
JOO'YaikI Range! 



The Wor d' 



BRiqhiEsi Laser 



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From 



Runs on 
2 AAA 

BAFTERirS 

hcludEd 



SPECIAL 
Compare 
UP TO 
$199.99 



PEN-SrylE 
DfsiqN 
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TLie Greatest SiNqlf. Leap In 

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Philips’ New 33,600 BPS 

Tta LiqkTNiNq-FAST WAy To Connect Wiih TIte Would! 

Blazing Internal Fax Modem! 

Operating at speeds of up to 36,600 bits per second, the 
Philips Internal Fax Modem Card supports the industry’s 
fastest international standards for data transmission 
over normal phone lines. 

P109-1000 33,600 Internal Fax/Modem PC $159.99 




41 


M 


B SIM 


IMS *3 


9 


99 


8 


M 


B SIM 


ims n 

B&sau 


9 


99 


Him 


IlNduSTRy-STANdARd ModulES jn^gg 





Item# 


Size 


Density 


Type 


Speed 


Pin 


Price Was 


SALE 

Price 


P56-1132 


1 MB 


256x32 


Non-Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


New! 


$34.99 


P56-1 134 


2 MB 


512x32 


Non-Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$84.99 


$69.99 


P56-1004 


4 MB 


1x32 


Non-Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$89.33 


$39.99 


P56-1006 


8 MB 


2x32 


Non-Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$169.99 


$79.99 


P56-1008 


16 MB 


4x32 


Non-Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$349.99 


$189.99 


P56-1010 


32 MB 


8x32 


Non-Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$699.99 


$399.99 


P56-1028 


64 MB 


16x32 


Non-Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


SI 899.99 


$1499.99 



P56-1000 


1 MB 


1 x 9 (3 chip) 


Parity 


70ns 


30 pin 


S39.99 


$24.99 


P56-1001 


1 MB 


1 x 9 (9 chip) 


Parity 


70ns 


30 pin 


S39.99 


$24.99 


P56-1002 


4 MB 


4 x 9 (3 chip) 


Parity 


70ns 


30 pin 


$129.99 


$59.99 


P56-1003 


4 MB 


4 x 9 (9 chip) 


Parity 


70ns 


30 pin 


S129.99 


$59.99 


P56-1012 


4 MB 


1x36 


Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$99.99 


$69.99 


P56-1014 


8 MB 


2x36 


Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


SI 99.99 


$139.99 


P56-1016 


16MB 


4x36 


Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$399.99 


$209.99 


P56-1018 


32 MB 


8x36 


Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$799.99 


$449.99 


P56-1030 


64 MB 


16x36 


Parity 


70ns 


72 pin 


$1999.99 


$1499.99 



P56-1020 


4 MB 


1x32 


Non-Parity EDO 


60ns 


72 pin 


$99.99 


$39.99 


P56-1022 


8 MB 


2x32 


Non-Parity EDO 


60ns 


72 pin 


$199.93 


$79.99 


P56-1024 


16MB 


4x32 


Non-Parity EDO 


60ns 


72 pin 


$393.99 


SI 89.99 


P56-1026 


32 MB 


8x32 


Non-Parity EDO 


60ns 


72 pin 


$689.39 


$399.99 



P56-1136 256 KB 256K L2 Pipeline Burst Synchronous 160 pin New! $24.99 

Cache/Triton 

P56-1138 51 2 KB 512K L2 Pipeline Burst Synchronous 160 pin New! $34.99 

Cache/Triton 




FREE CheckFree* 

With Any Order From Tiger! 

Pay your bills electronically! CheckFree sends 
mam- payments electronically, transferring funds 
from your account on the date you specify! 

Ask for #0124-1000 *ptus $5.95 shipping and handling. 



HOW TO ORDER 



Were ojien around the clock from Monday 8 a.m. until 
Saturday 12 Midnight and Sunday 8 a.m. until 11 
p.m.(EST). Please call us at (S00) 395-8443 to place >x>ur order or fax to (305) 288-3W0. 
international customers call (305) 671-3300. 

CORPORATE. EDUCATIONAL AND VOLUME SALES: Call (800) 26^8710 for quantity pricing vol- 
ume bids, educational bids, and site licenses. 

PAYMENT: VISA, MasterCard, American Express, DLsciAvr Card. Carte Blanche, Diners Club, personal 
checks and money orders. \\e DO NOT CHARGE YOUR ACCOUNT until we hav e SHIPPED your order! 



SHIPPING METHODS: Overnight on in stock items up to f OVKKMCHT MJ.IVKKV 
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pounds are shipped either by UPS at Tigers UPS shipping and handling charges or by second day 
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charge. If an item you order is out of stock more than 3 days, it will be shipped ‘best way" Areas 
serviced overnight by UPS may be shipp'd by UPS. Please call your sales advisor if you need more 
information. 

30 DAY GUARANTEE Everything you buy from Tiger Is backed by our 30-Day Guarantee against 






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OvERNiq.hr Delrvtrcyt 

800 ^ 595*8445 

Pfe*se Ml Mbs Oyjt "CEP* 




i Smart & Friendly 



EPSON Photo PC 



EAsily, RtliAbly Ai\d AffoitdAbly 

Record Your Own CDs! 

Just about anyone who needs to store data, 
music, video, graphics, files or documents could 
use this complete CD recording bundle. The CDs 
you create will hold more, cost less and be 100% 
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s 1800 Of Sofiu/ARE liNcluded! 




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for Windows 95 and NT 3.51, Easy-CD Pro 
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Awarded “Best Buy”— PC World 1/96 



FROM Just Smart & Friendly 







Description 



Price Each 



SI 17-1000 CDR 1002 Pro 2X Int $599.99 

S1 17-1002 CDR 1002 Pro 2X Ext $699.99 

S1 17-1004 CDR 4000 Pro 4X Ext.. . . $1379.99 



Capture Up To 1 60 DiqiTAl PkoTOs! 

High-Rez Digital Pictures! 



Epson Photo PC 



RESoluiioN/OuAliiy 


640x480 


SlORACjE 


1 MB INIERNaI (EXpANdAbU) 


iMAqE CApACiTy 


Holds up to 1 60 iMAqss 
w/ 4MB sioRAqE 


Lens 


Auto focus 


Focus DisiANCE 


2 Ieet io iNfiNiry/AccEpTs 
57lMM CAMCORdER Ie.NSES 


ExpOSURE/ApFRIURE 


EpuivAlENI TO ISO 
150/15.6 


ShUTTER 


1/50 io 1/10,000 sec. 


Power 


4 AA bATTERiES 


WEiqhi 


AppROxiMAitly 1 lb. 




Hk^Oi'diiy, 24-Bii Images, Tuo RtsolmioN 
Moths Slow Images For 1 Year! Wisdous 
CosipAiibU Auio-Focls: 2 Fi.-lNfiNiiy SeIMimer 

Epson PhotoPC E53 

Item / Description Price Each 

El 7-4000 Color Digital 

Camera w/1 MB $499.99 

E17-4001 2MB Memory Module. . . $139.99 

El 7-4002 4MB Memory Module. . . $249.99 

El 7-4003 AC Adapter $79.99 



Quick IDE To Parallel HD Kit 



HotDog Pro 2.0 



Turin Your HARd Disk Into 

A Handy Parallel-Portable! 

Great idea 1 Simple to use! Now that the price 
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portable convenience wher- 
ever you go. Great for file 
transfers, backups, and 
especially laptops that need 
more disk space. Smash hit 
here at Tiger! 



W 





Item/ 



Description 



H22-1100 Quick IDE To Pa 
Hard Disk Kit. . 



5. Snap on 
Cover. 




Here's The World's 

Most Popular Web Editor. 

HotDog has helped thousands and thousands of 
people to put their message on the World Wide 
W r eb— a new galaxy of commerce! Now, with new 
HotDog Pro 2.0, you can create professional-quali- 
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programming language 
used to make Web 
pages. You use a famil- 
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interface — just select 
and click to add type, 
images, graphs, charts, 
sounds, video and inter- 
active buttons. Takes 
just minutes — 



instead of hours or (lavs required 
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Suppoms HTML 2.0, 5.0 
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...including Netscape and Microsoft new tags. 
That means HotDog Pro 2.0 is ultra-flexible. And 
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their Web page on Anaw r ave’s AnaServe W'eb 
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Anawave Software 


wmL r Fim:m 


Item / Description 


i Met Etch 



A143-1000 HotDog Pro 2.0 WIN CD. . . . $49.99 




CD-ROM Express 



“Print Screen” In Windnws! 



OvERclmvE For CD*DmvEs 

Make Your CD Drive Faster! 

Fast performance is delivered with CD-ROM 
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through reference titles, and blasts you into 
the next generation technology. 

Save money! It qivts you iLe performance of a 
1 OX or 20X (Jrive fROM a 2x, 4x, 6x or f aster 
IRAN sfER RAIE. SAVE HMe! CD-ROM ExpRFSS eIiM- 
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SCREEN TO ANOlllER. SAVE SpACE ! YOU NO lowqER 

Lave io aIIow iIie setup pRoqRAM of every CD- 
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ROM io youii llARd dRiVE. 




^ Save MoNEy! 
Save TIme! 
Save Space! 
Just j 

Sjj|r j 



PC Kicik 



Item i 



Description 






P39-1006 CD-ROM Express $49.99 

P39-1008 CD-ROM Express, besvb^. . $19.99*T 

‘Must be purchased with another item. Promotional packaging. 
tChocse DOS. Windows or Windows 95. 



PrIint ANyihiNq Whh One KeysTRokt! 

Just Like You Dill In DOS. 

Print Screen is a must-have utility for every 
Windows user! It’s perfect when you’re surfing 
the Internet and you discover a great-looking 
home page, or you see a picture of a new prod- 
uct you just have to know more about. When 
you’re running your 
favorite CD-ROM 
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want to share an 
exciting moment 
with someone else 
(to prove you really 
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Linux 6 CDs 


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11th Hour 


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Macmillan World Atlas with book . . . 


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A Brief History of Time 


. $25 


Multimedia Cats or Dogs 


$25 


The Art of Great Pastries 


. $19 


Normality 


$39 


Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Interactive . 


. $19 


Ocean Life 4: Great Barrier Reef . . . 


$29 


Civil War (2 CDs; Game & History) . 


. $35 


Oregon T rail 2 with VHS video 


$39 


Command & Conquer 


. $39 


A Passion for Art 


$32 


Crime Collection (6 CDs) 


. $24 


Power Spanish or Japanese 2.0 


$89 


CyberMage 


. $39 


Putt Putt Parade/Goes to the Moon . 


$19 


Duke Nukem 3D 


. $39 


Stowaway! 


$24 


Eyewitness Ency of Space 


. $34 


Terminal Velocity 


$12 


Family Gathering 


. $42 


TriplePlay English/French/Spanish . 


$25 


Garden Encyclopedia 


. $26 


Virtual Reality Cat or Bird 


$25 


Introduction to Classical Music 


. $12 


Warcraft II 


, $39 


Jump Start Tod/Pre/Kind/1 st/2nd .. 


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World War 1 or II or War in Pacific . , 


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Leam to Speak Eng/Fr/Ger/Span . . 


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New, easy and effective CD-ROM 



Leam to speak a foreign language by becoming the lead actor in an interactive 
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Product Information Number 103 








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Seymore Six Pack 
Deep Throat Girls 1-4 
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Actresses Uncovered $39 

Amateur Nudes $39 

Asian Nudes $39 

Barely 18 $39 

Beef i. 2, 3 or Prime (gay). . $39 
Boris Vallejo Fantasy Art . $39 

Cherry Poppers 1 or 2 $39 

Cup Art Erotica $39 

Cum Shots $39 

Die Pietsche (German BCD) . $39 
Erotic Reader (stories) . . . $39 

For Women Only $39 

Forbidden subjects $39 

Gay World 1. 2 or 3 $39 

Girlfriend Traci, or Teri . . . .$49 

Hacker Chronicles 2 $39 

Hard Core 2 $39 

Hard core GIFs $39 



home Boys 1, 2 (German Gay)$39 
Incognito (German Bondage)$39 

Japanese Pearls 1 or 2 $39 

Make Your ovn orgy (game) $39 

Manpower (gay) $39 

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GLITCH WITH JON PHILLIPS 



VOICE 



INSIDER’S EAR ON THE GOSSIP SCENE 

ALL THE RUMBLINGS AND GRUMBLINGS IN THE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY 



INTERNATIONAL 

STUTTER-STEPS 

In a turbulent round of hissy fits, 
door-slamming and all-around 
hurt feelings, Ill-Conceived 
American Business Machines lost 
k its director of sales 
A ft. and marketing to 
Unadulterated 

Crap, which 

in turn 

Mr. Jones senior product man- 

ager to The Japanese Salary Man 
In the Plastic Bubble. When all 
the dust settled, a small Hong 
Kong chip maker ended up with 
the Oakland Athletics’ Phil 
Plantier, a mere .202 hitter. 

BREAKING UP IS 
HARD TO DO 

Mountain View's Five Guys 
Software is also losing one of its 
key players, the Fourth Guy, to a 
mysterious 
Hollywood content 
developer. While 
nothing’s yet been 
confirmed, gossip 
P.E. Duke around the donburi 

bowl says the Fourth Guy is head- 
ing to Whatever, a new Web site 
for listless twentysomethings 
banked by Aaron Spelling. The 
departure couldn’t have come at a 
worse time for Five Guys 
Software, which just suffered the 
embarrassment of netting $82 
million in worthless Monopoly 
money from its late June IPO. 
When asked who would fill the 
Fourth Guy’s shoes, the compa- 
ny’s Third Guy sullenly said, 
“Geez, I don’t know, some dude." 

ANOTHER SHRIMP ON 
THE BARBIE 

The mythical $500 box just got a 
little cheaper with Budgietech’s 
announcement that it will begin 
shipping a $79 set-top computer 





F. Simmons 




in the fourth quar- 
ter. Those who’ve 
seen the machine 
in action are 
unimpressed. Said 
one product manager of a compet- 
ing firm, “This so-called ‘set-top 
box’ is nothing more than a circa- 
1970s Texas 
Instruments cal- 
culator. They 
scratched the old 
logo off and some- 
how jammed a A ' 0, Sage 
power cable into it. I just don't 
know what these guys are trying 
to pull here.” 

STICKIN* IT TO THE MAN 

Rushing to capitalize on the suc- 
cess of the wildly popular first-per- 
son action game Menendez 

Brothers Double 
Dare, Brentwood 
Drive Software is 
releasing 
Menendez 
Brothers Double 
Dare II: Lyle Versus Erik. The 
sequel is a departure from the 
original game, in which the two 
Menendae team up to fight then- 
way through 33 pr 
levels of hardened f , 
lifers in a maxi- 
mum security 
prison. Employing 
a completely dif- 
ferent engine, Double Dare II is a 
Toshinden- style 3D fighting game 
set 20 years into the future. Lyle 
and Erik are now the heartless 
leaders of oppos- 
ing prison gangs 
and command 
teams of maytags 
to assault and 
dehumanize each 
other in a tournament setting. 
Fulton Wong, Brentwood Drive’s 
senior creative director, says the 




Y. Wang 




Ju 

P.G. Locksmith 




I. Chong 





H.H. Blacksmith 



sequel will feature 
14 different fight- 
ers of varying 
strengths and all 
the chilling art M. Klein 
direction of the original title, save 
the brutal prison rapes. 

IMPULSE BUYING 

White House advisor and tech- 
head George Stephanopoulos 
will be the product spokesperson 
for Fishhead’s new line of multi- 
media PCs. In 
lieu of a tradition- 
al contract for 
services rendered, 
the boyish wonk 
will receive a 
single computer. “I saw it at 
CompUSA and didn’t really 
want to wait for all those lame 
contract negotiations, so I told my 
agent to cut a deal,” Stephano- 
poulos said. “It’s 
really cool. It 
comes loaded 
with Duke 
Nukem 3D and 
a totally boss 
sound card. I’m gonna make a 
remix of Coolio's Gangsta's 
Paradise and send it to my friend 
Billy Meyers in Dallas.” 

CHIN UP, LITTLE 
SOLDIER 

And now let’s all show a round 
of support for Cedric Allen, CEO 
of PoopDeck, who killed a family 
of five when he became engrossed 
in a cell phone 
conversation and 
drove his prized 
hunter green 
Maserati into 
oncoming traffic. 
Allen suffered a case of minor 
whiplash, but the dreamy car 
was totaled. We’re here for you, 
Ceddy. All you have to do is call. 




S. Moroni 




G.A. Greenberg 




L.C. Morris 



MUST-SEE TV? 

Livingston Mathematics has 
announced that it will buy adver- 
tising time during Friends and 
Seinfeld to trumpet 
its new line of algo- 
rithmic decomfibu- 
lation products. 

True to form, 

Livingston's deci- 
sion to buy the time was based on 
statistical analysis: A recent survey 
indicates nine out of 10 decom- 
fibulation engineers watch NBC’s 
Thursday night lineup; eight out 
of 10 think Courtney Cox has 
“got it going on"; and seven out 
of 10 think Julia Louis-Dreyfuss 
is not only “all that” but also a 
“bag of chips.” Unfortunately, 
the survey did 
not reveal the percentage of 
deconfibulation engineers who 
have no social lives 
and live vicariously through the 
dreams of others. 

NOW THArS R&D 

RinkyDink Inc. has announced 
that it will press charges against 
the corporate spy from Despon- 
dent Cubicle Workers United who 
attempted to steal the coveted 
Eggbert communications technol- 
ogy. While details are still murky, 
it appears that Eggbert uses inex- 
pensive cotton- 
fiber cabling to 
transmit data 
packets between 
proprietary input- 
D. and G. Bumes output devices. 
The handheld devices are cylindri- 
cal, and can be manufactured 
from either tin or aluminum. 

Edith Agnew, RinkyDink's direc- 
tor of product development, says 
Eggbert is a particularly effective 
bandwidth solution for communi- 
cation between tree forts and bed- 
room windows. 




boot AUG/SEPT 96 • 127 



G L I T 








The next big issue 
of boot magazine, 
promises to deliver 
even more of the 
news, reviews, 
previews, and views 
you crave when you 
want to feed your 
need for all things PC. 



Pure Lust 

Everything you wanted to 
own with a digital pulse 
but were afraid to buy. 



Glitch 

A page from one of the 
typical PC catalogs that 
promote deforestation 
via bulk mailings. 



The Migration Habits 
of the North American PC 

Time was when the lowly PC was confined to a nook in 
the den, relegated to a tiny monitor and condemned to 
tinny speakers. Now, companies such as Gateway and 
NetTV want to liberate your PC to the living room, 
taking advantage of mondo-sized monitors and stereo- 
system caliber sound. But at what cost does this 
luxury come? The compromises range from dot pitch to 
expansion slots. But some say surfing the Web from 
the sofa is the future of the PC. We get hands on and 
blabber about the new gear. 



The boot 12 -Step 
Program 

Once again boot helps 
you work through your 
obsession for all things 
PC by breaking down a 
way cool project to its 
step-by-step components. 



Game Theory 

Columnist Tom McDonald 
explains the hows and 
whys of FMV in games. 



Multimedia Manifestos 

When the Web doesn’t deliver the bandwidth you need for your own 
brand of personal expression, think true multimedia. We will reveal 
the secrets of the professionals for planning your project, digitizing 
video, sampling audio, rendering 3D, creating animations, and then 
wrapping the whole bundle together into a simple, but elegant, 
executable. “But I haven’t got access to a CD-R,” you whine? Never 
you mind, boot breaks down the process so anyone can create their 
own multimedia manifestos, whether destined for CD-R, Jazz, Zip, or 
Syquest cartridge. Heck! You can even just allocate a partition of 
your gig drive for your masterpiece. 



And of course, the bevy 
of beefy reviews and 
previews you can expect 
every month in boot , 
including Creative Labs’ 
PhoneBlaster, Diamond’s 
ISDN Commander, the 
Gateway Destination, 
NetTV, and Compaq’s 
new consumer laptop. 



bootWorthy: CD Changers 



One is never enough (at least until DVD becomes a reality), so consider 
the joys of CD changers for your multimedia and gaming pleasures. 
Phantasmagoria need never pop your drive door open again. That mega- 
ultra phone directory of North America (y’know... the one with the home 
phone, name, age, income, hair color, and family history of every person 
ever born on the continent) is now at your fingertips without shuffling 
through stacks of polymer discs, boot looks at every single changer ever 
made, but only recommends the best. 



www.bootnet.com 

Issue numbei two 
on sale September 17, 

1996. Order ill 



boot AUG/SEPT 96 




REACH OUT AND 

TORCH 





F/A-18 HORNET 

The hottest flight simulator game is now torching up your Windows® 
95 PC. It's F/A-18 Hornet. With incredible 3-D graphics and realistic 
instrumentation, it'll push you to the outer limits then bring you 
screaming back to earth. In fact, F/A-l 8 Hornet closely simulates the 
Navy's own attack-fighter aircraft. There's 28 different Persian Gulf 
combat missions to test your skills — where you can blow up 
everything from ammunition depots using the M61 Vulcan cannon to 
MiG fighters with an AIM9 Sidewinder. So pick up the award winning 
F/A-l 8 Hornet today. It's the best way to get close to someone. 






Q n DEUDO^ 

un/ii n iv 

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CORPORATION 



www.graphsim.com/graphsim 

Product Information Number 100 





Choose Corel for creative style 
that gets your Web site noticed! 

Corel WEB. DESIGNER — Powerful Web page publishing 

- Convert most popular word-processor files to HTML using CorelWEB.Transit 

- Choose from more than 100 professionally designed templates 

* Create links, bookmarks, hotspots, forms and more 

- Link your Web page with hyperlinks and image hotspots 

- Table support 

Corel WEB. MOVE — Create exciting animations and bring your Web pages to life 

* Supports numerous formats including Java Applets and animated GIFs 

- Includes over 2,000 actors, props ana sounds 

CorelWEB.DRAW — Utilize the power of CorelDRAW™ 5 technology 

- Vector-based hyperlinks with most recent URL drop list 

- Client-side image mapping produces .MAP and complete .HTM files 

CorelWEB. WORLD — Transform your Web site into a virtual reality visitors can explore 

- Over 100 pre-designed models 

- Seamlessly integrate video, images, audio and text 

- Hyperactive links connect visitors to other worlds, Web pages and more RUIIS Oil 

CorelWEB. GALLERY — Over 7,500 Internet-ready clipart images Window^ r \ I X 

- Drag and drop any file into your document YVlllUUWb a. 1 A, 

- Visual Multimedia File Manager Windows® 95 cind 

Windows NT'” 3.5 1 or higher 






Includes: 

CorelWEB. DESIGNER 

CorelWEB.MOVE 

CorelWEB. DRAW 

CorelWEB.WORLD 

CorelWEB.GALLERY 

CorelWEB.Transit 



Corel and CorelDRAW are eitbor trademarks or registered trademarks of 
Corel Corporation in Canada, the United States anrt'or other countries. 
Windows is either a trademark or a registered trademark 
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. 



Enter the Corel $3,000,000 World Design Contest! 

(September ‘95 to July ’96) 

To receive a faxed copy of the contest rules and an entry form, please call: 
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Product Information Number 93 








PO BOX 5229 

PITTSFIELD MA 01203-9464 



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FOR EVEN FASTER SERVICE, 



Circle the numbers 
corresponding to the products 
you want to know more about. 
Manufacturers will rush the 
product information to you. 
Please be sure to answer all 
the questions. 

THIS CARD TO (413) 637-4343 



□ Send me 1 year of boot (12 issues and 12 discs) for only 
$29.95, and bill me. 



name 



title 



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address 



city 



slate zip 



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fax 

Issue Date; Aug/Sept 1996 Expiration Date; September 31. 1996 



INFORMATION FROM ADVERTISERS 



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1) Please indicate which of the following products you currently 
own or plan to buy. 



3) Do you buy computer products from 
52 □ Retail Stores 53 □ Mail Order Companies 



HARDWARE 


OWN 


PLAN TO BUY 


Pentium Pro Based Computer 


□ 01 


□ 02 


Pentium Based Computer 


□03 


□ 04 


486 Based Computer 


□ 05 


□06 


Pentium Based Laptop 


□07 


□08 


486 Based Laptop 


□ 09 


□ 10 


CD-ROM Drive 


□ 11 


□ 12 


CD-ROM Recorder 


□13 


□ 14 


Magneto-Optical/Tape Drive 


□15 


□ 16 


14.4 Speed Modem 


□17 


□ 18 


28.8 Speed Modem 


□19 


□20 


ISDN Modem 


□21 


□22 


3D Graphics Accelerator 


□23 


□24 


Color Printer 


□25 


□ 26 


Laser Printer 


□27 


□ 28 


Scanner 


□29 


□ 30 


Monitor (17‘ or larger) 


□31 


□ 32 


Joy Stick 


□33 


□34 


Mouse 


□35 


□ 36 


SOFTWARE 


OWN 


PLAN TO BUY 


Game Software 


□37 


□38 


Enhanced CD-ROMs 


□39 


□39 


Utility Software 


□41 


□40 


Virus Protection Software 


□43 


□42 


Productivity Software 


□45 


□44 


Reference Software 


□47 


□46 



4) What operating system do you currently run? 

54 □ Windows NT 55 j Windows 95 

56 j Windows 31 57 □ DOS 

5) Do you subscribe to any of the following online services 9 
(check all that apply) 

SUBSCRIBE PLAN TO SUBSCRIBE 



America Online 


□ 58 


□ 59 


Prodigy 


□ 60 


□ 61 


CompuServe 


□ 62 


□ 63 


Internet Service Provider 


□64 


□ 65 


6) Please indicate your age group; 

86 □ 20-25 25-30 






68 j 30-35 


69G 35-40 




70 □ 40-50 


71 0 50+ 




7) Please indicate your sex; 


72 □ Male 


73 a Female 




8) Is your household income. 


74 □ Less than 35.000 


75 □ 35 - 45.000 




76 □ 45 - 60.000 


77G 60 - 75.000 




78 □ 75 - 100,000 


79 □ 100 - 150.000 





bog 150.000 + 



2) If you own a CD-ROM Drive, which kind is it? 

47 □ 8X 48U 6X 49 J 4X 500 2X 510 Multi-Disc Changer 4BCB5 




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Pure Power 



Pure PC Power! SB 



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